


Season 4 : the arrival of Horde Prime

by TheWitchOfTheRock



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alien Species, Angst, Autopsy, Dating, Drug Use, Drug Withdrawal, Enemies to Friends, Entrapdak, Ethnography, F/M, Fluff, Forced Undressing, Friendship, Love, PTSD, Panic Attacks, Romance, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018) Season 3 Spoilers, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2020-09-14 14:36:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 116
Words: 311,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20276986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWitchOfTheRock/pseuds/TheWitchOfTheRock
Summary: The portal worked. Horde Prime has arrived, but it doesn’t work out the way Hordak hoped. He might just be able to make  the best of things.Happens after “lab partners” series and “lab partners after dark” but can be read without those having been read first





	1. Crushed

Hordak shifted through the ruins of his lab, not cleaning- he’d get a subordinate to do that later maybe. Not looking for anything, not even thinking.

He just felt numb.

Entrapta was gone. Probably back to bright moon, since her own land was under his control.

Something didn't feel right.

Of course something didn’t feel right. She was gone. In the presence of pure, devastating heartbreak could he now admit to himself what he’d been avoiding all this time.

I love her.

It wasn’t even past tense. He still loved her- he hated himself for saying it, but he did. But she had betrayed him-

Something inside him stirred. Something was wrong.

He pushed some debris out of the way, and a pile of metal whirred and beeped at him. He stepped back, tense, then relaxed as Emily rose from the rubble.

“Oh. It’s you. She left you here too?”

Emily whirred. He didn’t speak Emily, but it didn’t sound like she was sad.

It hit him.

No. Entrapta wouldn’t have betrayed him. He knew this deep inside. That was the wrong thing. It made nov sense though. How else had the princesses gotten in. Why else was she gone!? All the evidence was there that proved Catra right.. but even in the face of evidence, he didn’t believe it.

Why would she leave Emily?

The door to his lab wooshed open, and one of his officers- Scorpia, entered.

“Sir, Catra told me to come and start clearing the mess out for you.”

His mind felt sluggish. Was this the heartbreak? Had he been injured when the portal was destroyed? Was it shock?

“Sir?”

“No.” He said softly in a voice that didn’t sound like him. He straightened up and took a breath, “No.” he forced some ice into his voice. “ I’ll go through this myself to see if there’s anything of value left.”

“I understand sir… you’d like to do that alone?”

“I would.”

There was a long moment of silence when Scorpia said nothing. Was she waiting to be dismissed?

“Uh.. sir? I think I have information you should know.”

“You think??”

“Well, it’s complicated. You see-“

She didn’t finish. Someone ran in and gave a quick Salute.

“Kyle, what’s wrong?” Scorpia asked.

“Hordak sir! You’d best come quick! Another portal opened nearby, and there’s ships coming out of it”

Hordak turned slowly and looked at him, still confused as his mind took this in.

The portal had been open for just a moment. Entrapta was successful.

And now Prime was here.

————————

He had succeeded. Horde Prime had sent him to the front lines. He wound up on this nowhere of a planet, built an empire, and sent a message out so he could be found. He had persevered past all obstacles. He had succeeded. He was worth something. He didn’t care.

Entrapta had always thought he was worth something, even when he was at his weakest.

He felt sick.

But he had to work past that for the moment. He was used to working through pain. He hurried with Scorpia and Kyle to one of the communications rooms, where Catra was already watching the scene - a massive portal in the sky, with -oddly- only a handful of ships coming out of it. There were four sentry ships, each one piloted by another clone- Hordares, they would have been. They all had different names based on their position.

Except Hordak. That had been a jibe when he was sent to the front lines. Higher generals were allowed special names. He had once been Hoard Alpha. After his imperfections had been discovered, he had been stripped of that title, and was called Hord-ak. Flaw of the Hoard.

In the center of the four ships was a larger ship. Horde Prime was there.

“We should attack, sir.” Catra said, “before they can organize.”

“We want them to organize.” Hordak said flatly, “those are allies.”

He turned on his heel and started walking away, “Catra, turn on the signal lights on landing pad A. Go, and greet the man you exits that larger ship- Hoard Prime. “

“Hoard Prime?”

Hordak left the room, allowing Catra to follow.

“The respect you treat me with, you must show to Horde Prime ten-fold. He will not tolerate impudence or lies.”

He realized that if she was still here, he’d not have tolerated Entrapta’s ways either.

Catra. Entrapta.lies. His mind was struggling.

“Sir…” Catra ran to get alongside him, “Who is Hoard Prime”

“He is ...the Emperor of the known Galaxy.” Hordak figured it would be best to leave off the rest of the information.

“Is he your- I mean, our emperor?”

“Yes- he is, effectively, the emperor of the Fright Zone. Once the rest of his army comes over, we will take over the planet, and he will rule the planet.”

“He’s going to stay?”

“Unlikely - he will assign someone to rule in his place.”

“Someone like yourself, sir.”

He let her believe that. In truth, his place would be at his side. His top general once more.

And thinking of this- he still did not care.

“Where should I bring him, sir?” Catra asked.

“Provided he doesn’t wish to see anything specific, the throne-room. He will sit on my throne- do not stop him.”

“Understood.”

“Dismissed.”

He thought he saw a glint in her eyes, but she was normally very keen- very sly. Maybe it was nothing.

He went back to his seldom used private chambers. He put on the badge he had not worn since he had been stranded here, and worked his disheveled hair back into place. He cleaned himself up as best as he could, but he was much degraded since Prime had last seen him. There wasn’t much he could do about that.

It wasn’t until he was opening the doors to what was formally his throne room to greet Hoard Prime that his mind pulled itself out of shock or injury and warned him.

Catra lies

——————-

He walked In, straight backed and as confident as he could be. Later, he planned to “question” Catra until she told him what really happened. He’d question the whole crew. He’d find out what really happened, and get Entrapta back.

Maybe the princesses had taken her, and she was in the prisons of Bright Moon. He didn’t know what their prisons were like, but he imagined a cramped, damp, awful place. Horde Prime would take over, he’d get Entrapta out, and he’d convince Horde Prime to let him bring Entrapta with him- her scientific mind was invaluable.

He had a plan again. He had hope. The world made sense.

It was with the confidence of a man on a mission that he approached the throne and knelt on one knee. He glanced to the side and saw a small collection of officers- probably the only ones available at the time, stood to the left of him. On the right stood Prime’s personal guard, masked helmets covering their features. Catra stood closest to the stairs at attention.

“Ahh. Little brother.” Horde Prime purred, “It’s been so long.”

Hordak stood up, and faced him properly. His face was entirely covered in the same bluish skin Hordak had, but a tad greener. He was taller, his hair longer, his eyes black and glittering. He of course still had his nose.

This had not started well. If he was pleased, he’d have called him “Horde Alpha.”

“This world has not been kind to you,” he said after quickly looking him over.

Hordak ignored the comment. “Horde Prime, sir-“ he hated the sound of “sir” on his tongue, but it was practically reflex, “I am glad you received my signal. I welcome you to the Fright Zone, and offer you all of its resources.”

“Indeed. Though I am surprised that you’re not offering me the entire planet. I’d have thought a backwater place like this would be a simple task, even for you.”

Hordak tensed his jaw. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. He had done well! He had proven himself.

“Nevertheless- come up. Let me see you more closely.”

Hordak took the stairs without hesitation. Showing fear would make this worse. For the most part, Prime was brief, not one to take his time to get to the point.

But he loved to, as the term went, play with his food.

He stopped a few steps down from Prime, and watched carefully as his eyes flicked to Hordak’s face, hair, then from his feet up, lingering on the gem on this armor.

I just compliment the… craftsmanship of this armor, Hordak.” He said softly- though not softly enough that his voice didn’t ring through the hall. “But it’s not your work - not your… style.”

“No sir.”

“Whoever built this then? One of your… captains, perhaps?”

“No sir. The scientist who crafted the item isn’t with us anymore.”

“No? I’d have thought you would strive to keep such talent around you.”

Behind him, he heard Catra speak up, “Sir, the one who made the armor was a Princess named Entrapta.”

Hordaks blood froze. If Prime was displeased with him, he’d keep Entrapta away from him out of spite. He might even kill her for fun.

“A Princess,” he mused. He stood up and walked closer to him, eyeing the armor, “Why did she leave, Hordak? Were you not the prince she hoped you’d be?”

He clenched his fists, but said nothing.

“She’s the one responsible for the invasion I told you about, sir.” Catra responded in his place.

There was a long moment of silence. Hordak looked carefully at Prime's face, looking for a hint of what he would do now. He had employed someone who - as far as Prime knew, had betrayed him. He had kept someone close to him who according to all logic, had betrayed him.

Prime laughed. A long, loud, hollow laugh that made Hordak shiver.

“Hordak, you stupid, stupid fool,” he finally said when his laughter stopped, “I don’t expect much of you, but I expected more than this.”

“Sir?”

“You’ve done well, all things considered, but you’re still a broken clone. Your body is more degraded than it was before if you need that much armor. I was going to put you out of your misery quickly and quietly this time...but this hilarious display of your ineptitude deserves suffering.” He started laughing again.

“And just what’s so funny!” Hordak snapped. He figured maybe the certainty of his demise made him brave.

“What’s funny is that I’ve seen this language before, and I can read it.” He leaned forward and tapped on the gem on Hordak’s armor, “your little traitor pet wrote ‘loved’ on your armor.”

Hordak’s heart skipped a beat just before Prime grabbed the gem, and in a solid, fluid movement ripped it from Hordak’s armor.

He wanted to reach out and grab it, moreso now that he knew what the writing meant, but the power glitched in his armor. His body grew weak as he fell under the weight of the sturdy machinery Entrapta had made. He looked up at Prime, hoping to see something other than disgust on his face.

All he saw was Prime crushing the gem in his hand.

He fell to the floor with a gasp of pain as the breath was knocked out of him.

“Pathetic.” Prime hissed as he sat back into his throne. He let Hordak lie on the ground, pinned down by his own armor, gasping for the breath that was knocked out of him.

“Now then.” He said in that soft, echoing voice, “What to do with you”

“Sir! If I can make a suggestion.”

It was Scorpia this time. He didn’t take her for one to enjoy giving out punishments, but here she was.

“The punishment Hordak often used himself was to send a person to Beast Island. There’s no way off, and it’s filled with horrific monsters. If he was sent to die In the same way…”

“Oh.. I do like the Irony. Very well.” He looked down at Hordak, “you shall be sent, then, to Beast Island to die. With luck, you’ll be eaten by something better than you are… but more likely you’ll decay into the dirt.”

“I’ll take care of this!” Catra said quickly, stepping forward.

“No.” Prime ordered. He beckoned to Catra, “I want a word with you...Catra?”

“I’ll deal with this.” Scorpia said, walking over to Hordak. She hoisted him up, grabbing him by the neck of his broken armor, dragged him out of the throne room, allowing him to see the now indifference face of Horde Prime, the shocked face of his captains, and Catra’s very pleased expression before she turned to walk up to Prime.


	2. Plotting

The doors slid shut behind them, blocking their view of the throne room. Scorpia dragged Hordak a little further just around a corner before she released a held breath.

“That was close.” She whispered, then turned to Hordak, lifting him up as she did. “Sir, can you walk?”

“Why, am I expected to walk to Beast is-“

“Sir, Entrapta is on Beast Island.”

“What? Why is she there!?”

Scorpia started walking, holding Hordak yo just enough that he could walk. It was a small mercy as the alternative was for her to drag it carry him.“Catra Sir. I was trying to tell you earlier. Entrapta found out there was something wrong with the portal, and she was -going- to try to convince you not to open it, but..” she frowned. “Catra didn’t like that. She had her -new- crew mates send her to Beast Island.” There was a definite hint of bitterness to her voice near the end.

Everything made sense. Hordak felt the knot in his stomach loosen. She hadn’t betrayed him, and she wasn’t locked away in some awful Bright Moon prison.

No. She’d just been attacked and sent off to the most dangerous place on the planet.

“It’s been two -days- “ Hordak hissed, “Why didn’t you-“

Someone ran up behind them. Scorpia turned to to see the small one, Kyle, running up to them.

“What are you doing here.” Scorpia asked in a lie hiss.

Catra ordered me to follow you and make sure you have ‘No trouble’.”

“Well then…” Scorpia shifted Hordak on her shoulder, “ good thing Catra doesn’t pay attention to you.”

“I’d -love- to know what’s going on.” Hordak hissed. The weight of his armor was starting to hurt.

“Ok. Yeah, so, Catra sent Entrapta to Beast Island and I- well, I knew that was wrong, Entrapta is absolutely precious, but Catra just seems to hate her lately and she’s really not being herself. But her new friends from the wastes will do anything she tells them to, and she more or less threatened me if I said anything to you.”

“Very much more” Kyle added.

“Right. So I decided to just go and get her myself. We’ve been getting a ship ready to go with rations, medical supplies, weapons…”

“But Catras been keeping a closer eye on Scorpia as of late.” Kyle said, “If she disappeared, Catra would track the ship and take her down before she got to Beast Island.”

“So, we were just prepping the ship, trying to figure out what to do next. I was going to tell you…”

“Why didn’t you tell me Catra had threatened you?”

“Well….” Scorpia trailed off, then gave Hordak a quick glance, probably deciding that at this point, there was little Hordak could do to her.

“I didn’t want you to hurt Catra.” She finally said. “She’s not normally like this, it’s just with Shadow Weaver leaving her, Adora leaving her...and Shadow Weaver going to Adora in Bright Moon-“

“What??”

Scorpia stopped for a moment and look at him, “Shadow Weaver brought the princesses in,” she said after a moment. “That’s why Catra wanted to use the portal.

That stupid, stupid fool.

If her deception was found out, Prime would kill her. All it would take was Scorpia to decide that she was done with her.

“Catra’s not normally like this.” Scorpia said softly. “When she sees I’m there for her….she’ll be ok.”

Hordak doubted that.

“I was hoping to dig through your sanctum, and find some tools that Entrapta might want when we find her. Can you think of anything you should take with you?”

Hordak went through the list of things in his lab that might be useful. “She has a toolbox” he said, it’s pink and purple. It has most of her tools.”

“Anything else?”

“...imp, If you can find him, and there’s a droid named -“

“Emily?!” Scorpia exclaimed, “she survived?”

“Yes.”

“Kyle, can you get that and meet me at the shuttle?”

“I can.” Kyle said, he hesitated and then asked carefully, “Sir… do you have different armor?”

“I do not.” Hordak replied. He had not needed any other armor, and the old stuff had been scrapped. The equipment he’d use to repair his current armor- if he could try- was destroyed. “Entrapta put a kill switch on this though. With her tools, I can tell you how to trigger that to remove this”

He’d be weak and vulnerable, but he’d be mobile. It would be better than his current situation.

Kyle nodded and took off running. Scorpia continued down to the shuttle.

————————

Hordak and Scorpia got to the shuttle first.

“Ok, there should be rations for a couple of weeks.” Scorpia said as she set Hordak down along a wall, “there’s some weapons, first aid kits, radio equipment-“

“This isn’t a shuttle.” Hordak said. It was a drone transport. Bigger, stronger, and made for carrying supplies through war zones.

“Yeah- I figured this would be easier to reprogram afterwards to get the two of you off Beast Island. I mean, I wouldn’t know how to do it myself, but I’m -positive- entrapta will.”

“And when Catra or Prime get the report that it’s gone missing instead of a shuttle.”

Scorpia gave an overly concerned sigh, “Yeah, that might be a problem. Hopefully the guy in charge of managing the ships this month messed up all the requisitions… “ she looked at a nearby board, showing a list of people working In the ship bay, “oh, look. It’s Kyle. That’s lucky!” She gave Hordak a joyous smile.

“Captain Scorpia, you may just be more devious than I gave you credit for.”

“Only when I need to be.”

A moment of quiet passed, but Scorpia didn’t seem to deal with the quiet well.

“So...uh.” She looked around the loading bay, then back to Hordak. “Sir.. I mean.. I guess you’re not my commander anymore…”

“I am not. Horde Prime is until he decides to assign someone to rule here in his stead...which I think is an honor Catra is striving to.”

Scorpia mumbled something under her breath, then said, “uh.. in that case, can I ask you something that would have otherwise been inappropriate?”

“You’ve saved me from a painful execution, and you’re providing me the means to find Entrapta, and get to safety. I’m sure I can allow you a question.”

“Are you and Entrapta actually ...a thing?”

At the moment the question took Hordak by surprise, but he wasn’t sure what other questions she might have had. His ears fell slightly, and burned blue. He hoped she didn’t notice- most didn’t.

“I am…..Entrapta is…” he fumbled uncharacteristically for a moment, then looked to the side at some numbers printed on the ship. He took a breath and collected his words.

“Entrapta is very important to me.” He finally said. “I...refuse to let her think I’ve abandoned her.”

Hordak didn’t realize that such a long, high pitched squeal could come from such a large woman.

“Oooh, I knew it, I knew it I knew it !” She had her large claws up to her face. Squeezing her red cheeks.

Confusion covered Hordak’s face. “You knew?”

“Ok. Well, Kyle and I suspected. “

“How?!”

“Ok. So. I’ve been here a -long- time. And we don’t talk at all - or didn’t, I mean, we’re talking now of course, but I’ve -never- seen you smile. Never. Not until you started working with Entrapta. And Entrapta, well I do talk to her and she never talks about you guys together, you know? But…” she trailed off and looked aside, “She always really lit up when she talked about you.”

“I see.”

“She would have gotten an invitation to Princess Prom for next year. We wondered if she was going to invite you.”

Kyle returned before Hordak could destroy that idea. Behind him was Emily, with Imp riding on top of her. Kyle had Entrapta’s toolbox in one hand, and a heavy pack in the other.

“Some stuff Imp was collecting. I don’t know if it’s important.” He said, lifting the pack. “It looks like junk to me.”

“I’ll take it with me.” Hordak said. He had built an empire from junk. Entrapta had built him an eco-skeleton from scraps. More junk was good.

“Alright.” Kyle set the pack and the toolkit in the ship. “So what do I do about your armor?”

Hordak struggled to try to pull himself forward. Scorpia helped him as soon as she saw what he was trying to do. She leaned him forward so he was sitting on the floor, his back off the wall.

“there’s a little panel just under my neck,” he said, “pry that open, put the screwdriver in the slot, and turn. That’s an emergency kill switch- it should make the armor release.”

Scorpia jumped to the toolbox and flicked it open, “I totally got this.” She said as she took a screwdriver out of the toolbox, and broke it in half with her powerful claws.

Hordak stared at her for a moment half in awe, half in fear.

”Scorpia… maybe I should-“

“Ah, yes! Yes, that might be wise.”

Kyle got another screwdriver, and pried around on Hordaks armor until he found the panel. Hordak heard the ‘click’ of the panel opening.

“Ok. Ready?”

“Just do it.”

He put the screwdriver in the slot, and turned. There was no pain as he felt the armor loosen detach, and fall off of his body and onto the floor.

Hordak took a gasp of breath as the weight lifted and he could take a full breath. He fell back against the wall, gasping and slowly flexing his arms.

He was weak, but now he could move.

He didn’t notice in silence surrounding him, not until he heard Scorpia say, “We can -not- send him out like this.”

He looked up to see Kyle and Scorpia staring at him in horror. He frowned, and carefully rose himself to his feet. “I’ll be fine. There not much other option anyway.”

“Maybe some lightweight battle armor?” Kyle suggested.

Imp, who had been watching the scene from atop Emily jumped onto the box of junk, pulled out Hordak’s old cape, and brought it to him.

“Yes, get the armor.” He said.

Kyle scurried off for a moment, and came back with a light grey chestplate and a set of gauntlets. He put them on quickly, then threw the cape over his shoulders. Scorpia produced a pin to clasp it under his neck. As he was doing this, Scorpia found a shipping crate and put the remains of the armor Entrapta made for him inside, then put the whole thing in the ship.

Wordlessly, Hordak climbed into the ship.

“Where will you go once you’ve got her?” Scorpia asked. “I mean, we were planning to bring her back here but…”

“I am unsure.” Hordak admitted as he seated himself in a corner. Emily settled next to him, and Imp climbed atop her. “I imagine she may have an idea”

Kyle started pressing buttons on the side panel of the ship. “You’re almost ready for takeoff, sir,” Kyle said, “anything else you need?” Hordak shook his head.

“No. All this is more than enough” I hope. “I don’t know if I can express my gratitude for your risks in this, given my position now, but know if I can do something for you, I will.”

Scorpia gave a sad smile, “just get Entrapta and sweep her off her feet!” She brightened up slightly, “ Invite us to the wedding!”

Hordak rose a brow ridge.

“Calm down, Scorpia.” Kyle said, nudging her in the arm.

“What about the two of you.” Hordak asked. “Catra did not sound pleased at your suggestion, I am sure she’ll want to dig her claws into you. And if Prime discovers either of you helped me, your lives will be forfeit. Are you going to be safe here?”

“Nobody pays attention to me,” Kyle said bluntly, “so I’m probably fine. Besides, the Fright Zone is all I know.” He shrugged, “I don’t know where I’d go. Honestly… This is my home.”

Hordak looked up at Scorpia, a question on his face.

“I..I think I can help Catra!” She said, “She’s a good person, she’s just going through some stuff and I know I can bring her back!”

Kyle rolled his eyes. Hordak suppressed the urge to do the same. He hesitated for a moment, then spoke.

“Then take my advice, Scorpia. If not for now, then for later. Some people don’t want to be helped.”

She frowned, then slowly nodded. Kyle finished the launch sequence.

As the door closed, Kyle and Scorpia saluted.

“Good Luck, Lord Hordak!”


	3. Beast Island

It was dark in the ship at first, then the emergency lights turned on bathing Hordak in a dull red glow. Emily seemed to be pretty sturdy as the ship shook during takeoff. Imp, on the other hand had been thrown from atop the droid. Hordak caught him, and held onto him as he listened carefully, his sensitive ears twitching, trying to make out any noise from outside over the motor of the ship. 

There was still a chance that Prime would change his mind. There was still a chance he would decide to kill him in flight. Still chance he might do the smart thing, and shoot him down to tie up loose ends.

Five minutes passed. Then ten. Then fifteen. Hordak finally relaxed, not realizing how tense he had been. His jaw hurt from clenching his teeth. His arms ached from clutching the shipping crates around him so tightly. 

Imp wiggled out of his grip, then plopped next to him. He leaned over to sniff at the light armor hordak wore, scratched it gently, then gave a short, pitched shriek of discontent. 

“No. This is not ideal” Hordak murmured. Imp sighed and leaned against him. 

“We just have to find her.” He said, “We land, we find her, we get off Beast Island.”

True, nobody had gotten off Beast Island before, but most people were sent there without a means of getting off the Island. Hordak was going with tools, weapons, equipment, and a ship designed for hostile environments. He was going to find Entrapta, and after that, with their combined resources, tenacity, and intelligence, they -would- escape.

But he didn’t know what to expect. He knew it was part desert, part jungle. His drones that he had sent in his earlier years in Etheria had shown images of terrible monsters before they were destroyed, but he never got enough data to paint a decent picture of what the island was like. 

Not ideal. 

Imp looked up at Hordak, and gave a little sad, questioning growl. 

“I’m sure she’s fine.” He said shortly. Imp tugged on his arm. 

“She is not dead.” He snapped. He refused to believe it. So much had happened so quickly since he learned where she was that he hadn’t had time to consider all the worst case scenarios. 

“She. Is. Not. Dead.”

He said it to himself this time. But even as the words left his mouth, he could see her in his mind's eye, her beautiful hair matted with blood, her body torn by the fangs of some beast. 

“If she is,” he said in a quiet whisper, “it’s my fault.”

He leaned forward, and rested her face in his hands, I should have known from the start that Catra was lying. I should have gone looking for her days ago.

He took a deep breath, and lifted his head. No. He’d not think about that, not get distracted until the moment that he came across her corpse. Until that moment came, she was alive and well in his mind. If that moment actually came…

He couldn’t see past that moment. Life ended at her battered corpse

———————

The ship slowed, and started to land. As it grew closer to the ground, Hordak heard the landing thrusters activate, bringing the ship to a hover before it dropped the final few inches to the ground.

Hordak took a deep breath, and stood up. From the weapons he had been sent with, he chose a lightweight laser gun. It had power, he could run with it if need be - unlike the much larger portable cannon he wanted to take - and he didn’t have to worry about ammunition. 

Imp took a tiny knife. Emily, dispite being loud, glitchy, and seemingly programmed to be very friendly, was a combat drone. He looked at her.

“Please tell me Entrapta left you with your military capabilities.”

Emily whirred, and a moment later two panels opened on her sides, allowing two lasers to pop out. A third panel open in the front and a red force field shield popped up around her. 

“Good.” Hordak said with a nod. He went to the door, shut off the lock, and grabbed the latch.

“Get ready.” He whispered. Imp sat on Emily’s head, knife in hand.

Hordak took a breath, and threw open the door, coming face to face with a very loud, screaming lizard bird thing. 

Hordak took a quick step back, then fired his gun, getting the bird-lizard in the face. It recoiled, screamed, and flew off. 

He was broken. His armor was gone. He was in an unknown land surrounded by danger. It wasn’t the first time, and he was very well trained. 

Looking around, they seemed to be surrounded by a cluster of large eggs, each slightly silver in colour. Most of them had been broken open, their contents eaten. Their drone must have detected the eggs, and thought this was a landing strip. The lizard-bird must have thought the ship was an egg, and wanted to break it open for a large meal. 

“Emily- go into sentry mode.” He commanded. Emily beeped, and started circling around the ship. 

Hordak turned and went back into the ship. “Entrapta is highly intelligent and exceedingly capable.” He said to Imp who followed him in curiosity, “I’d be very surprised if she didn’t already set up some kind of radio from the scraps of her shuttle.” It had been what he had done when he was stranded. “If I set this up, I can scan channels and see if I can find her.” 

Imp dug around in the supplies that had been provided, and pulled out a flare gun. 

“That will alert everything around that something is here- I don’t want to risk drawing more attention to myself.”

Imp squeaked, dropped the flare gun, and started digging through the scraps. 

The radio had been slightly damaged in the landing, but it was nothing Hordak couldn’t fix. It was a little tedious though. He had been working on it for only about fifteen minutes when he heard imp screaming, and saw light flare from Emily’s lasers. He cursed, grabbed his gun, and went to the door. 

He should have abandoned the ship as soon as he landed, ideally. The landing itself would have drawn notice, and could have attracted predators. But the ship had all his supplies, weapons, food, and most importantly, the ship itself was his way off the Island. So he stayed with it. 

And now he was staring at a very large, very angry mother snake, with silver scales, three heads, abd a vicious looking stinger on the end of its tail. 

He assumed the mostly destroyed eggs he had landed in were hers. 

Hordak turned to the side, aimed, and starting shooting. He was aiming for the eyes, trying to get a disabling shot. Emily was providing a distraction, being a large, shiny, noisy, laser-shooting ball of death. 

The snakes scales must have provided some armor, as Emily’s lasers weren’t doing much. Still, Hordak managed to hit half the eyes - without a miss- before Emily glitched. She stopped. Twisted funny, and then her leg stuck. In that moment, the snake lunged at her. Emily managed to get out of the way, but she was knocked aside. 

The snake turned its remaining eyes on Hordak, and started to slither towards him. Hordak cursed, and took two more shots, taking out two more eyes before he backed into the ship. 

One of the snakes heads -the center one that still had an eye, got in, but the other two slammed against the edge of door. In that moment of confusion, Hordak grabbed the cannon, turned, and fired. 

The recoil took him by surprise, and without his normal armor he was thrown back against the inside of the ship. 

It did the trick though. The blast hit the snake and drove it out of the ship.

Braced himself against the wall, and aimed again. The snakes body was blocking off the exit. It was still moving.

Hordak took a breath. Patience. Either this Beast would leave, or it would come back for another try. 

The ship shook, and tilted.

Or, it’ll attack the ship itself. 

The ship shook and lifted from the ground. Hordak dropped the cannon, grabbed imp, and managed to grab the smaller gun when the ship tipped forward. 

Hordak felt his feet starting to slip. He crouched, held Imp to his chest, and tucked into a ball as he fell out of the ship.

The landing wasn’t pleasant. His breath was knocked out of him, but he was in one piece. 

The snake came around towards him. He tried to get to his feet, but pain shot up through his leg. He buckled forward and fell to his knee. 

Something was wrong. 

The snake lunged. 

Imp flew at the snakes face, and lashed out with the small knife he had taken. The snake hardly reacted, but snapped at Imp. It’s long, sharp teeth sunk into his leg, and Imp gave a loud, feral scream. 

Hordak aimed his gun, and fired, managing to catch the exposed gum where the snake was biting down on Imp. It’s mouth opened in a hiss of pain, dropping Imp to the ground. 

Hordak tried again to rise, but his leg wouldn’t listen to him. 

Hordak stayed down on one knee. Deep, calm breaths. He held his gun before him. 

It would lunge again. He’d fire then. He didn’t know if it would work. He could take out the last eye but he wasn’t sure if that would drive it off. Regardless, he’d take the shot. He could deal with anything else after that.

Just one problem at a time. 

The snake lunged, then stopped suddenly. At first he was confused but then he felt it- the ground shaking beneath him. 

The snake looked at him, looked into the distance, then took off. 

Hordak shaded his eyes and looked into the distance. Approaching quickly was a very strange looking creature. He stumbled back, looking around for shelter, but his injured leg wouldn’t let him get up.

He turned towards the oncoming beast and aimed. Emily managed to get over to him, Imp, nursing his injured leg sat atop her head. She put her shield up, shielding Hordak. 

The beast was now close enough to see that it was an elephant sized cat-rhino hybrid with an odd furry lump on its head, slowed to a trot and stopped in front of them. 

Hordak rose his gun. 

The lump on its face shifted. In a second, it had lowered itself down off the top of the creature using long pink tendrils of hair. 

Pulling the fur off her shoulders, Entrapta ran past Emily, who had lowered her shields, and knelt down beside Hordak. She looked him over quickly, then looked him in his eyes with that bright, honest smile of hers. 

“I knew you’d come for me!”


	4. Clean up

Entrapta and Hordak looked at one another for a moment, lost for words before Entrapta noticed Imps wounds. She gave a horrified gasp. 

“Poor little imp, was that mean triake mean to you.” She cooed as she examined the leg. She looked up at Hordak, “Did you being a first aid kit?” 

“It was very neatly packed in my ship.” He said, the added, “Triake?”

“Yeah. Tri-Snake. That ones not very nice, and I’d normally -avoid- this area, but I saw your ship landing...well,” she laughed and gave that little snort she often gives when she laughs, “I didn’t know it was your ship.” She looked him over, then frowned, “Emily, can you find the first aid kit?”

Emily beeped and wandered off as Entrapta moved Hordak’s head around with her hands. 

“What happened to you.” she asked softly. 

Hordak almost laughed. Almost. A lot had happened to him since he had last seen Entrapta. But he figured the most important part would have to suffice for now. 

“The portal worked,” he said bluntly, “And Horde Prime opened his own portal. Here’s here.” 

“So… you came to get me before you leave?” She looked him over, “No, that’s not it… Where is your armor??”

“It was damaged.” He couldn’t bring himself to describe what Prime had done just now, not in detail, “Horde Prime was.. Displeased with my lack of progress and…Really just with me” He gave a wry smile. “I’m still just a broken clone to him.”

“Not to me.” Entrapta whispered, wrapping a strand of hair over his shoulders, “You’re special.. To me at least.” 

He remembered the gem, which apparently had “Loved” Written on it. He felt his ears tilt down and burn. “ I know.. I think there was never any pleasing him. I know that now.” He looked up at her, taking in the concern in her eyes, the soft, gentle smile, and was about to try to say something nice, You’re special to me too, might have worked, or I missed you. 

Instead, as he took a breath to start speaking, Emily came back with the first aid kit. 

“Excellent work Emily! Now go and gather up the rest of the supplies, and put them back in the ship. We’ll help after we fix up little Imp here.” She passed Imp back to Hordak so she could dig through the first aid kit. 

“There might be a problem with that” Hordak said, suppressing the irritation that simmered inside him, “Something happened to my leg while I was dealing with that …. Triake? Something’s wrong with my leg.”

Entrapta took a bottle of disinfectant, and carefully started to clean off Imps wounds, despite his pained cries, “Shh, shh, I know it hurts.” she gently scratched Imp’s head, “Can you keep him calm while I clean him up.”

Hordak gently held the back of Imp’s neck while Entrapta worked. 

“So what’s wrong with your leg.” She said as she immersed herself in her work.”

“Unsure. It feels like something is wrong with a nerve in the right leg. There’s no pain, but I can’t seem to move it, or put pressure on it.” 

“Hopefully you just fell on it funny. We’ll get you to my camp after we gather everything up, and get that elevated. Some ice would be nice to put on it, but we’re not finding that here.” She put the disinfectant back, and started to work on stitching up Imp’s leg with neat, careful stitches. 

“And to get to your… Camp. Can I assume we’re riding that thing?” He looked up at the giant, furry rhino with the cat ears. 

Entrapta looked up to Hordak, and followed his gaze to the creature she had ridden in on. 

“Oh! I didn’t introduce you! Hordak, this is Boots. I’ve called his species “Felineo”. They’re normally aggressive, -THIS - one in particular tried to eat me when I landed, but I managed to ride him until he tired out. He didn’t expect to have to deal with all this hair.” She grinned at Hordak, “He’s nice once you get to know him.” 

“I see.”

“And most importantly, I’ve been using him to help me drag the remains of old ships to my camp so I can work.”

“You were working on a way off the island, I presume?”

“I was working on a way to get a message to you, but the radio signal wasn’t getting through.” 

Entrapta finished the stitching on Imp, and then placed a bandage over his wound. “There you go.” she said before she gave him a scratch on the head. He gave a little hum, and then jumped down off Hordak’s leg, and sat down to examine the bandage. 

Entrapta looked at Hordak, “OK, now you.” 

“Now me?”

“You’ve got cuts on your face, your side is badly bruised, and I need to look at your leg.”

Hordak held his hand up to his face. He hadn’t noticed, but yes, it felt a little tender. “Right” Hordak mused aloud, “Prime knocked me down some stairs.” 

Entrapta, for a moment, had an expression of pure anger - a rare occasion to be sure, but she looked at his face again, and the expression faded. 

“Let’s get you cleaned up before any of this gets infected - that’s the last thing you want here” She said. She took the antibacterial out of the kit again, and gently dabbed the stinging liquid to the cuts on his face, wiping away the blood as she did. The pain didn’t bother him, and he wasn’t used to being tended to like this. 

Correction - he hadn’t been used to it. He had grown somewhat accustomed to it from Entrapta. 

“Thankfully you don’t need stitches,” She murmured as she got close to his face to examine a cut that was somewhat close to his eye, “I’ll just slap a small bandage on these when they’re cleaned up and -”

“I..” He cut her off, and she stopped what she was doing, but didn’t move away. He closed his eyes for a moment, thinking about the two days he thought she had betrayed him. He had been alone before, yes, but never lonely. “I missed you.”

It was a sad replacement for what he wanted to say, but it was the best he could do. 

She smiled, a light blush colouring her cheeks. “I missed you too,” She said. She stayed where she was for a moment before she moved and took out a couple of bandages and gently placed them over the cleaned wounds on his face. Then she pushed him down onto the ground with her hair, taking his leg by the calf so she could examine his knee. 

As she moved it, he winced. 

“Does that hurt?”

“No. It feels like my legs been asleep.” 

“How long has it felt like that?”

“Since I hurt it with the ..Triake?”

Entrapta frowned as she let her fingers carefully prod at his leg and his knee. “Does anything hurt?”

“No. It just feels numb, and tingly. I think I might have struck a nerve.”

“Well that’s not so bad then!” Entrapta said with a smile as she helped him sit up again, ‘We’ll just let you rest that a little, and hopefully you’ll be better soon!” 

She stood up, and stretched, first with her legs, then stretching with her hair lifting her up into the air, “OK, I’m going to help Emily pick up the supplied, and then we’re heading to my camp.” She smiled as she looked down at Hordak, “My new lab doesn’t compare to your sanctum, but I think you’ll like it!” 

“I’m sure I will.” 

————-

Once all the supplies were gathered up, and set back on the ship, Entrapta tied the ship to one of the felinos’ horns with a long length of metal rope. Emily went in the ship, and held the now ruined door closed. She ran up to Hordak, who had set Imp on his shoulders. 

She held her hands out to him. “Up ya go!” she said, taking his hands, “I need to see if you can stand.” 

Hordak allowed her to help him up, balancing himself with her hands, while her hair hovered around him, waiting to catch him if he fell. He put all his weight on one leg, stood, and gently set his foot to the ground, slowly shifting his weight onto it. 

It felt like lightning through his leg, and he lost the strength from his knee down. He lost his balance, and Entrapta grabbed him around the waist with her hair, keeping him upright. 

“Alrighty! You really messed up your leg.” She gave him a big smile, “I can probably rig you up something for your leg when we get back to camp so you can walk around while it heals. “

“I brought my suit with me” He said, “It’s in a shipping crate in the ship. I hope. “

“Excellent! Maybe I can fix it, and that’ll help with that leg!” 

She helped him move, supporting his bad leg with her hair as she propped him up. They got to the beast, Boots, and Entrapta climbed up first, then pulled Hordak up after her, sitting him behind her as she grabbed the reins. 

“This may get a little rough, “ she said as she lowered a pair of goggles over her eyes, “So hold on” 

The fur of the monster was silky and slick, and it was hard to grasp, “To what?”

She took his wrists with her hair, and wrapped his arms around her. “To me!”

She let him hold on around her waist, then wrapped her hair around him, holding him tight to her back. 

“Ok!” she said cheerfully as they started moving, “Tell me everything!” 

It reminded him of the moment when she held him against the vitrine, looking up at him with determined eyes, demanding he tell her everything that was wrong. Things he’d never told anyone on Etheria. And she had helped him. 

So he started with realizing that she had finished the portal. The vivid dream before the portal stabilized just a moment before She-ra destroyed it. The destruction of his lab, and Catra’s lies, 

“You didn’t believe her though.” Entrapta said with a snort. Hordak clutched her a little tighter. She turned to look at him. 

“You… you did?”

“It made sense at first.” he said softly, “You were gone. The princesses had gotten in, and..” He hesistated. No, just the facts. “But it didn’t seem right.” 

She frowned, and looked ahead, not saying anything. Imp, still sitting on his shoulders, gave a screech in his ear, and pulled his hair. Hordak hissed in pain - his hair was sensitive- and sighed.

“It’s because..” He started slowly, collecting his words. He was comfortable with Entrapta now, able to relax around her a little. But talking was hard. “It’s because I… I couldn’t.. It made more sense that you’d want to be with the princess than you would with.. With the Hoard.” There was another screech in his ear, and Imp’s hand on the back of his head. “With me.” 

Entrapta was silent for a moment. “You thought I didn’t want to be around you?”

“I don’t know why you would.” 

She turned, and gave him a look as though he was having trouble grasping a very simple fact. “Uh, because you’re smart, you’re nice to me, you understand me, you listen to me when I start rambling and you actually understand what I'm talking about? Because we work together really well, we always seem to get on the right train of thought? Because you’ll actually work with me? Because I get ideas when I work with you that I don’t get when I work alone. I get more excited about my experiments when I'm working with you than I ever have anyone else? Because you’re actually adorable when you-”

“OK, ok.” He hissed, his ears tilting down slightly. 

“Because you never thought I was strange for just wanting to learn. To do experiments. You encouraged me! You helped. Nobody’s been all of that for me. I mean, sure, Adora and Bow and Glimmer were nice enough, the other princesses were - nice- but… That’s all.” 

Hordak wasn’t sure how to respond to all that. He wanted to say something, but he wanted to say it right. He just didn’t know how. 

“I am very glad to be proven wrong.” He said finally. Entrapta tightened her hair around him briefly, then said as she urged Boots on, “OK. what happened after that.” 

“Then Hoard Prime arrived.”


	5. Chirp

“Here we go! Home sweet home!” 

Hordak wouldn’t have called it home. 

Entrapta had managed to find a large cave stuck mid-way up a jagged cliff near the coast of Beast Island. Hordak imagined that when she first found it she managed to access it with her hair, climbing over the rocks that protected it, but now she had created a lift out of salvaged metals, bones, and wire. Inside, she had rigged a table from a half rusted sheet of metal, and a hammock from some old netting that she had repaired. The table was covered with some makeshift tools and parts from old ships that were in various stages of repair. She had filled the Hammock with pillows made from scraps of fabric. In the very center of the cave she had set an old metal barrel, cut in half. It was filled with ashes, 

“It gets very cold at night.” She explained as she saw Hordak looking at the makeshift fireplace, “And I need to save any fuel for the ship when it’s fixed.” 

She helped him over to an old metal box she had sat against the wall of the cave, and set him down as she ran back to the lift to grab the other things she had brought down- the box of scraps, the crate with Hordak’s armor, her tools, Imp and Emily. 

Hordak leaned against the wall. The day had caught up with him. Adrenaline had kept him moving while he was fighting, and seeing Entrapta was a balm for sure, but the truth was that he was in a very bad state. 

Without his armor, the dull ache in his body became a pulse of pain that throbbed with every beat of his heart. His leg, still numb, was starting to ache at the thigh, and the bruises he had sustained from his fight, and his reunion with Prime were aching as well. 

It was good to sit, just for a moment. He shut his eyes, and felt imp crawl slowly onto his lap. He heard a concerned shriek from him, and reached up to try to pat him. 

I’m fine. He tried to say, but he was just too tired, Just let me rest for a minute. 

He dozed off, but was awakened before long by a gasp from Entrapta. He slowly opened his eyes to look at her. 

She had taken his suit out of the box, and had pieces of it sprawled over the table and floor. She had just taken out the neckpiece, and was looking at the hole when the gem had been. 

“It didn't look so bad at first… but this…” She looked up at him, “Hordak, he took the power source right from the suit. “ 

“He did.” Hordak said softly. 

“How did he know it was the source?”

“He didn’t” Hordak said, his ears twitching slightly. “He … He can read first ones, apparently.” 

Entrapta was confused for a moment, then a quick blush rushed over her cheeks before her lips pressed together. “Hordak.. I’m so sorry.” 

“...Why are you sorry.” His voice was soft and sleepy. He was so tired. 

“I.. If I hadn’t written anything on that gem- “

“He’d have killed me anyway.” He said. “He found it amusing.” 

Entrapta dropped her head, and started picking at the hold in his armor. Imp looked up at Hordak, but this time, Hordak was already ready. He knew this conversation might come up, so he had prepared.” 

“He found it amusing. He thought I had been tricked into thinking that some princess… that some princess cared enough about me to write, “Loved” on my gem. But he was wrong. I wasn’t tricked.” 

Entrapta didn’t look up. He frowned. “He ripped it out, and crushed it.” he said, “But that’s fine. I didn’t even know it said anything in particular. Knowing..” He hesitated as he searched for his words, he didn’t think he’d have to say more than he already had. “Knowing-”

“I'm sorry.” she whispered, “I’m sorry I embarrassed you.” 

“You didn’t!” he insisted, sitting half up before the pain forced him back down. Entrapta jumped over to help him, putting her hair on his shoulder as she looked him over. He took a lock of her hair in his hand. 

“I’d not ever be embarrassed by you.” He finally said, “It made me happy. Knowing.” 

It had. That brief moment before the gem was torn from his suit. A flash of joy. 

Entrapta smiled softly, and gently stroked his hair, quickly lulling him to sleep. 

\----------- 

He woke up to Entrapta’s voice chattering away. “-Pulled away all the extra mechanisms, strength enhancements.” He watched her pacing around the table she had made, “ It’s pretty well stripped down to the bas- Oh, hello!” 

She turned off her recorder, and walked over to Hordak, “You slept for just over two hours.” She stated, “Which I know is not normal for you.” 

He sat up, realizing that the armor he had been wearing was off. He saw it in a pile on the ground nearby “It’s wasn’t sleep, exactly.” He said slowly as he pulled himself up, his body aching, “When I’m injured, I dive deeper into a restful recovery-”

“You sleep longer.” She stated. She turned on her recorder again, “Beast log 5, As a side note, Hordak sleeps longer when injured to facilitate recovery.” She paced around him, continuing to record, “Unsure if the snoring is a result of recovery, injury, or if I’ve just not noticed it before. Further research req- “

“I do not snore.” Hordak snapped, indignant, his ears flicking downwards momentarily. 

“Well, no, you don’t “snore” per say. You make this -adorable- little chirpy noise. Kinda like when I play with your hair, but louder.” 

He growled, and looked aside. “I do not chirp”

Ebtrapta rewound her recorder and played back a strange sound, a staccato series of, well, slightly pitched chirps. “You do.”

He frowned, his ears flicking down and flushing blue. 

Entrapta picked up a long piece of shiny metal in her hair and swooped over to him, “no need to pout” she said happily as she lifted him to his feet, “I’ve got a temporary fix to the armor issue.” she displayed to him a basic armature of metal and basic hydraulics, a crisscross of wire and metal on the back and in front with small connectors.

I had to strip down the armor. It’s basically just a frame now.” She explained, her hair started gently working the frame into place, the plugs snapping into the ports on his body with a painful jolt. 

“You won’t get benefits like you did with the other one- no strength enhancements, no protection, but it’ll stop the pain and facilitate movement. You should be able to wear the armor you had on earlier over it.”

The last connector went it. The familiar feel of electricity rushing through his body woke up his muscles, and calmed the pain. He slowly flexed his fingers as Entrapta tightened straps around his limbs and waist.

“I had to use some janky parts, and it’s powered by a small solar energy battery I managed to rig a few days ago.” She tightened the last strap and set him back down on the box. “It’s far from perfect- a far cry from the old armor, but it’ll do for now.” She glanced at the remaining pieces of his old armor, “That’s fixable, but I need a better power source than I have access to right now.”

Hordak took a deep breath as the pain ebbed away. Metal rods clung to his arms and legs, and across his back. It wasn’t comfortable, but it was better. 

“Now then.. can you stand?”

She gently held Hordak by his arms with her hair, not lifting him, but just getting ready in case he fell. He slowly lifted himself to his feet, keeping his weight on his good leg. When he was up, he shifted his weight to the other. HIs injured leg still felt numb, but he could stand.  
“Good. Now let’s see you walk.”

Awkwardly, he managed to swing his bad leg forward, but it was clearly not a controlled movement. He felt Entrapta’s hair tighten around him. 

“Ok” Entrapta said softly as she supported him a little with her hair, “Maybe let’s get your leg up for a little.” 

She helped him over to the hammock, and helped him in, positioning him so that his leg was up. 

Back where he was sitting, Imp made a strange, strangled cry. Entrapta picked him up with her hair, and deposited him on Hordak’s stomach. 

“I think he wants more attention when he’s injured.” She said as she give him a quick pat on the head, “At least, he’s very vocal about it.” 

“He can be.” Hordak said as he tried to shift himself upwards a little. Entrapta pushed him back down with her hair. 

“Nope. You stay down. Let’s give that leg a little time, and hopefully you’ll feel better soon. Then you can help me repair the ship you came on.” 

He nodded, and idly set his hand on the back of Imp's neck, “Then what.” He asked. She looked over at him. 

“We’ll figure that out.” She said with a smile as she turned and went back to the table, her hair fanning out and grabbing at tools and materials. 

He sighed. That was easy enough for her to say for now, but the truth was that they were both wanted. Horde Prime would want her killed, and him if he showed his face again. He wasn’t certain that BrightMoon and the Princess would take Entrapta back, and even if they did, they would execute him. 

He wondered for a moment if they could stay on Beast Island, but it didn’t have the technological advances necessary to make Entrapta happy - the same could be said for the Crimson wastes. He had no doubt they could survive there, but if possible he wanted somewhere where Entrapta could work on whatever experiments she wanted to. 

But at the very least, she had gotten some materials gathered together in her cave. 

“Where did all this come from.” He asked, looking around. 

“ Hmm?” she said idly as she was pulling apart an old motor over the table. She looked at him, then looked around the cave, ‘Oh! Yes. Well, A lot of it is from the ship I came in, but that crashed pretty bad when I landed, but then I figured maybe there were other ships around, so since I had Boots to help me, I started looking for other ruined ships thinking I could just cannibalize some old ships, and maybe get the parts together, so I started gathering up any wrecks I could find, and I found this place when I was climbing down to get some stuff I saw on the cliff face, so -THAT- was lucky.I started looking during the day for supplies, found some old rations in old ships, and some tools in old repair kits.”

The engine was now in several parts. She held each one ahead of her, looking at each piece, tossed one away, and then started rummaging through a pile of materials. She found a similar part that she started tinkering with. 

“Anyway, then I was out looking for more wrecks, and I saw your ship landing, and well, You were there for the rest.” She laughed. “But I’ve been collecting wrecks since I landed pretty much, so that’s where all this came from.”

She turned suddenly, one of her tendrils of her hair pulled out a pile of papers, and handed them to Hordak. He took them, looking at them in confusion. 

“Those are schematics for some of these ships. I’m sure I could find what I'm looking for in them, but it’ll be more effective if you locate the information I need, since you’re more familiar with this technology.” 

He gave a quick smile, and started leafing through the papers. It wasn’t much, in fact he was half sure it was an afterthought, or something to keep him busy, but he was happy that he was helping her. 

\-----------------

Hours passed. Hordak had sorted out the papers, and was trying to figure out the information that had been ruined by damage or time. He wasn’t sure how late it was, but Entrapta had turned on the small powered lamp for her work a while ago, and started a fire to keep them warm. Cold set in fast on Beast island when the sun went down, and keeping warm was essential. 

Entrapta got up, exhausted, and let her hair lift her to the hammock. Hordak glanced away from the papers as she set herself next to him, the curve of the hammock rolling her into him. 

“Sorry.” she muttered, “But can you watch the fire. I’m so sleepy.” 

She was asleep before Hordak could respond, curling up against him. Imp, who had been sitting at his side move up and lay on top of her. Her hair twisted around Hordak’s shoulders before slowly falling limp around him. 

Hordak went back to his papers with a small smile on his lips, flipping through the pages carefully, trying not to wake Entrapta. 

After a moment, Imp started to chirp.


	6. Conditioning

“Now jump up and down on one foot!”

Entrapta had insisted on examining Hordak herself to make sure he was fine. Most of his injury was visible, so she could easily see the quickly receding bruises, and the cuts that were nearly healed over. 

Of course he had taken good care of himself yesterday. A total of three hours of sleep, a full ration, and a night of rest had accelerated his healing nicely. Entrapta could see, however, the inside of his leg without surgical tools. Which she didn’t have. So he had walked, run, jogged, lifted moderately weighted things, and now-

“A couple of good hops and I’ll be satisfied that you’re fine!”

Begrudgingly, he stood on his recently injured leg, lifted the other, and with his ears tilted slightly down, hopped three or four good times in place. 

Entrapta gave him a big grin, “I think your body’s healing is magnificent!” She said, “I’d love to study it further….” she lifted her head and glanced around the cave. “Maybe when we’re in a slightly better location for studies. “

“That would seem wise.” Hordak growled, “You’re satisfied with my progress?”

“Hm? Oh yes! I think you’re all healed up. You did better than I thought you would!”

“Good.” Hordak reached for the light armor he had arrived in . 

“I still don’t think you should leave the cave.”

Another growl, his ears flattened to his head slightly, “you can’t go out there alone-“

“I have Boots, Emily, and I have my hair. “ she stated, “I’ve not been injured since my arrival. If you came with me. I’d be more worried about you if I ran into anything dangerous.”

Several responses came to his mind, that he wasn’t weak, that he could help, that he was competent. They had gone over this all before. 

As he was, he was more effective staying and working on repairs while Entrapta salvaged for the last few pieces they needed to find. He knew that. It was logical. But he was terrified she’d get lost, or hurt, or die out on Beast Island all alone. He was scared that he’d never see her again and he much rather die alongside her, rather than have her die and not know what happened.

He frowned, and looked over at her as she started packing up some bottled water and a few ration bars in a pack. “And if you don’t come back?”

She paused, her hair hovering in mid-air as she looked over to him. 

“I will though!” She finally said, cheerful as ever, “I promise!”

“You can’t promise-“

“I’m heading to some crashes I’ve been to a bunch already” She said as a strand of hair went to her toolbox. She whipped out a bag and passed it to Hordak. “Here. My communicator. My call number’s in a little book on that bag with it. Plug that into the radio I rigged here and we can talk while I’m gone.”

Hordak sighed, his ears twitching, “That’s not necessary, “ he said, but he took the communicator and book out of the bag regardless, “Maybe you could just… check in occasionally.” He handed her the communicator. As she finished packing he flipped through the book. There were several com-numbers he didn’t recognize, ones for other Princess, someone named “Bow”, and a few horde numbers, including his own. It took him a second to see her own com-number on the back of the book.

“I have all those on my data pad, but I need that to examine the stuff I find.”

“Why not use your data pad instead of the communicator?”

“The data pad is digital. Communicator is analog. I could probably get a basic distress signal out, but voice would get garbled.”

“Analog. How quaint.”

“Well, I was going to work in upgrading it, but it’s not necessary now. With my tools back, my data pad, and you working on repairs while I’m out, we can probably get off Beast Island in a matter of days!” Her hair hovered over her for a moment as she thought, scratching her head, “maybe a week if we want to secure some of this scrap.”

“That’s wise. Might be good for repairs.”

Entrapta finished packing up her things, a few extra tools, and threw the pack over her shoulders. “I’ll be gone most of the day.” She said, “But I’ll be back before sundown.”

Hordak nodded, and took a deep breath. 

“Entrapta, I-“ 

She didn’t even notice he was about to say anything. She pushed herself up on her hair to his height, and gave him a light kiss on the cheek. “I’ll be back later.”She said with a grin, and took off up the lift. 

He waited, listening carefully until she was out of earshot. Imp was next to him, watching him carefully. When he couldn’t hear her anymore, he cursed loudly in his native tongue. His hands balled into fists.

Imp shrieked at him.

“I KNOW!” He shouted. “I’m an idiot.” He growled and turned to plug her com-number into the radio. He had been about to tell her before she left just how he felt. There were several times where it seemed like the right moment but he hesitated too long. And then at the end she had thrown him with her casual affection which he just wasn’t used to. 

And it was so stupid. They’ve been intimate before. They’ve kissed before, mated before, and she had been showing more and more of this casual affection before the portal turned on. She knew how he felt. 

So there were two questions Hordak had for himself. The first; why did he want to express himself in words? Action was much more effective, no? Second; why couldn’t he. 

With Entrapta’s number punched in, he hit the contact button and listened to static for a moment. 

“Hello!” Her voice finally came through, crackly and slightly distorted. 

“Just checking to make sure it works.” He spoke into the microphone. 

“I can hear you perfectly but once I get moving, I’ll have trouble. I’ll contact you when I get to the location, “

“I’ll await your call.”

The line went silent. Imp stared up at him with a frown. 

“I’m not telling her over the radio.” He snapped. He got up and went to the table to work on a few broken pieces that needed repairs. 

His latter question he had an answer for at least. All the clones were heavily conditioned after they were ‘hatched’. Physical intimacy wasn’t conditioned out of them because ideally that desire was bred out of them. Emotional intimacy was displayed to them as something disgraceful, embarrassing, and dangerous. People were stupid when they were emotional, and made bad decisions.

This wasn’t wrong. In fact, he’d found himself to be more stupid around Entrapta then he ever had been before in his life, but together they were far more effective. Overall, her presence in his life was a boon, so he allowed it. He allowed her in and felt himself falling hard and fast and just trying so hard to ignore it. 

Then she was gone, and he realized he couldn’t. Loving her hadn’t been a state, it had been an event. It happened, and he could no more change than he could travel back in time and change the past. No matter how much it hurt him.

But now she was here, and he felt it was important to say aloud how he felt. His conditioning made him hesitate, second guess, and criticize himself. 

And it frustrated Imp to no end- he had never suffered such conditioning. It frustrated him too! Entrapta was strong, smart, competent, and relatively free with her feelings. She wasn’t an embarrassment. She wasn’t disgraceful.

The Horde conditioning was wrong. At least for him. He knew that. But still.... 

The machinery he was working on sparked in a way it shouldn’t have. Distracted. Stupid. He sighed, cleared his mind, and tried to get back to work. 

———————

Many many years ago, before Hordak was a general, back when he was in training and just starting to excel, he had a brief stint in the lab. His uncommon curiosity had led him to an interest in the sciences, and thus away from combat exercises for a short time. 

Today, they were checking the incubators. Hundreds of late stage clones, mostly adults, were curled in the green-tinted fluids of the incubators in a semi-awake state with helmets strapped over their heads which covered their eyes and ears. 

Even after being hatched from the incubators for two years, Hordak, Who was then just 05h41, could still see and hear the things those helmets played. Obedience and loyalty were main themes, videos showing people being either raised or eviscerated depending on how well they integrated these ideals. 

Those who performed their duties and served their purpose mattered. Otherwise, you were useless. Unnecessary. A waste. That was made very clear in the videos. 

But those weren’t the ones that clung to HordAk the most, not the ones that chilled him. No, the ones that got to him were the ones that portrayed more minor themes. Families that sacrificed their lives to save small useless children. People who made stupid, devastating decisions because of the love of one single person, losing everything and dying in the end anyway.

It caused a deep sickness in his stomach- revulsion he assumed. 

He and the head natal scientist were checking vitals and development. At this stage, it was mostly a formality- these clones had been growing for nearly two years. Given their accelerated growth rate, they were pretty much adults. Electricity pulsed through their bodies to stimulate their muscles, abd essential information and skills were virtually trained when the helmets weren’t streaming video. Soon, they’d hatch, and be released to perform their physical training and assessments. 

There was a blip on the clone that Hordak was examining though. Breathing was irregular. He called to the scientist with him and showed him. 

“hrn….”he looked over the stats, “Ok. You’re going to run a full scan.” He turned on a screen next to the incubator and moved aside so Hordak could run the scan himself. He had never done it before, but he performed the task well and a minute later they had a scan displaying various organs and muscles. 

“What do you see.” The scientist asked. 

Hordak looked over the scan, his eyes darting to the lungs first. There were three lungs, and In this clone there seemed to be some degeneration in the left lung, affecting its inflation. 

“Damage to the left lung.” He tapped the screen with a long talon, “some kind of natural degeneration?”

The scientist nodded, and then made a soft hissing noise- frustration. 

“Flush it.” He ordered. 

“It can’t be repaired?”

“It can. The resources it would take to repair it would exceed those of simply starting over.”

Hordak pressed some buttons on the screen, opened a security screen, and put in his code. 

In big green letters, the screen read “purge vitrine y/n”

He hesitated. Purge vitrine. Kill the clone.

After a moment, the scientist reached over and pressed the button. The fluid drained from the vitrine, and a jolt of electricity shot through the clone, killing it before the bottom opened and it ran down through the pipes. 

“I hate this part too.” The scientist said. 

Hordak gave a little sigh of relief, “I thought it was only me.”

“Of course not. Purging a clone so close to its hatch date, it’s frustrating. All the time and energy and resources spent to grow it, gone.

Hordak frowned, his eyes furrowed. That wasn’t quite what he meant. 

“That could easily have been you or I.”

The scientist looked at him, confusion over his face. “Perhaps. The universe is a dice roll. No point concerning yourself over chance.” The scientists ears pressed back against his head - disapproval. 

“Of course.” Hordak said, his own ears flicking slightly, “I am simply grateful I was given the chance to serve, and did not create such a waste of resources myself.”

They moved onto the next clone.

————————-

The sky was turning red when Entrapta returned. Hordak had already lit the fire and warmed up the cave when the lift finally came down, carrying Entrapta and a pile of rescued scraps. She gave Hordak a big smile as she saw him in the illuminated cave. 

“I did really well!” She exclaimed, leaping towards him before the lift finished it’s descent, her hair carrying her to him as she wrapped her arms around his waist. Taking him aback. “I got nearly all the materials we need, and a lot of them seem to be in good shape!” 

Her hair worked to bring the supplies in and near the table where they could work on fixing what needed to be fixed. Hordak was always so impressed at how her hair could seem to work on it’s own while she focused on something else - in this case, hugging Hordak. 

She glanced at his arm, and saw the slight singe on his arm that he had earned from the sparking machinery he had been working on earlier. 

“What happened here.” She asked, slowly stroking her fingertips along the edge of the burn. 

“It’s nothing. Sparks from the thruster I was working on. A stupid mistake.” 

“Well, if a singe is all you got, I’d say you were lucky! I’ve lost count of the explosions and burns and cuts I’ve gotten from all my experiments!” She finished bringing the pieces in, and looked over at them for a moment, smiling in excitement. “I mean, the -only- way I could entirely prevent injury would be to stop my experiments altogether, and what kind of life would that be?”

He was starting to think she was smarter than he was.


	7. Surrender

They had almost everything they needed. There was another part they needed which Entrapta was hoping to find among a slightly larger ruin she hadn’t yet explored, then there was just a few more repairs, and scrounging up as much fuel as they could. 

Hordak glanced up from his work, tinkering with some of the radar and navigation systems, to check to make sure that Imp wasn’t causing any trouble. He had been put to work- something he wasn’t used to outside of spying- boiling and bottling water for them to drink when they took off. 

“Don’t let that boil off.” He said in a louder than necessary voice to wake Imp from his bored snooze. Imp snapped to attention, hissed, and looked away. He had been mad at Hordak as of late primarily because he still hadn’t told Entrapta how he felt. 

Hordak just he felt like saying something like that, the time had to be right, he had to have his words right. Damnit, he knew he had to just say it, and it really didn’t matter in the end but he was scared. 

Scared. He could admit that to himself at least. A deep rooted fear that gripped him. 

He stood up and stretched his arms and legs. He’d been sat for several hours at the table, working. He rubbed his eyes, which had been straining as he worked at tiny little parts. As he lowered his hands from his face, he noticed that it was already getting dark. He had been working in such a focused trance that he hadn’t noticed the time. 

“I should start that fire.” He muttered. His eyes darted to the radio. He hadn’t heard from Entrapta in a few hours, but last she had checked in, she was approaching the wreck she was going to check. She normally checked in every now and then, telling him about various things she found, or interesting things she thought of. 

Frowning, he grabbed the wood that had been piled in the back of the cave, threw them in the makeshift fire pit, and started the fire with little effort. Once it was burning properly, he went to the radio and kneeled down so he could punch in the number. 

He called to her radio. There was static. Static for perhaps longer than he’d like. Finally, her voice came in. 

“Hello.” she said. Her voice sounded low, and far away. 

“Are… Was your exploration successful?”

More silence. “I’m heading back.” She said, “There were some complications.”

“Complications? What-”

A grunt, followed by heavy breathing, “I’m heading back.” She said, “I’m just getting boots up to a run.” 

The line cut. Something was wrong.

Hordak to his feet, and was nearly at the lift when he stopped himself. There was no point going to her now. He didn’t know where she went, and he hadn’t left the cave since he arrived. If he went out on his own to find her, he’d be without Boots, without Emily, and without Entrapta. It was getting dark, and apparently the monsters out at night were far worse than the ones out in the day. 

With his normal armor, he’d be hesitant. Without it, it was suicide. 

Imp was now carefully ladling boiling water out of the pot it had been boiling it. He looked up and gave an angry shriek at Hordak. 

“I know.” He muttered. Now he was worried that something would happen to Entrapta, and she’d not come back. Imp pointed to the radio, but Hordak shook his head. If she had been injured she’d have said something. 

“She’s likely lost some tools, or something broke.” he muttered. He went back to the table, and tried to work, but he stopped every few minutes to look at the mouth of the cave, or to tense his ears and listen. His trance had been broken, and was now replaced with a slowly growing panic in his stomach. 

The sun set. Twilight faded. Hordak stood up again and strode to the radio. Imp Followed, screeching at him. 

“I’m checking up on her.” He muttered. He hated to do it, he hated bothering her, and seeming needy, but it was past dark. The last three days she had gone out, and she’d always return by dark, even if there were complications. 

Just as he was about to put her number in, he heard the lift whirring. He released a held breath slowly, turning to Imp, “See. I was being foolish.” He stood up and went back to the table. He wanted to seem like he was still working. 

He sat down, and busied himself with packing up the tools when the lift stopped. He looked over, a little surprised because Entrapta normally jumped from the lift babbling about what she found.  
He looked up, and saw her standing on the lift, swaying, something sticking out of her side. She looked at him, her hair twisting aimlessly around her. 

“There was a complication.” She whispered as she walked a few steps into the cave, then stopped. 

Entrapta fell to the floor, clutching her side. Her hair tried to life her up again, but couldn’t. Hordak jumped from where he was sitting, and covered the cave in a few long strides of his long legs. He took her by the shoulders, and gently lifted her up to a half sit. She was weak, but there was still some strength in her body. 

He ripped her shirt open, exposing the wound on her side. It was bad. He wasn’t sure what had hurt her, but there was a large stinger, like the quill of a giant porcupine digging into her side. Blood was flowing from the wound and onto the floor of the cave. 

“Hordak.” She whispered faintly, “If I die, you can- “ 

“No.” He hissed. He turned to Imp, “get the first aid kit!!” 

Imp had already dropped the bottle of water he was filling, and ran to get the kit. 

“Hordak.” She whispered, “The plans for the ship. You can finish it yourself with what I brought back, and- “ 

“No.” he hissed. Imp came over with the first aid kit. He dumped the contents out, unsure of what he should do. He knew the quill had to stay in her, or she’d bleed too much. He dug through the kit, and found something, A syringe filled with a paralytic. This was what it was for. Prolonging life, or faking death. She’d be still, she’d not be awake, and he still wouldn’t have long to figure out a way to save her. 

But he’d have more time than he had now. 

He lifted the syringe and held it to her neck.

“No.” She whispered, “No, I can-” 

“LIsten to me.” He hissed, leaning down until he was just an inch from her face, “You listen to me. I. Love. You.” 

He should have listened to Imp. He should have stopped being such a damned coward and just told her. He could make all the excuses he wanted to, but if he had told her before now, then the last few days might have been.. He didn’t know what it might have been. He’d at least have been able to spend it with her knowing exactly how he felt, without him agonizing about telling her.

Her eyes were fluttering, and though she looked at him, he wasn’t sure if he could hear him or if she was dazed out. 

“Entrapta, do you hear me?” He asked softly. She nodded. “Then you listen to me. I love you. I love you like I’ve never loved anyone or anything in my long, horrible life, and I am NOT losing you again.” 

He leaned down, and kissed her softly as she plunged the syringe into her neck. After a moment, she fell limp. He quickly felt her pulse - Faint, but still there. Her breathing was shallow. 

She needed immediate help. Beyond what he could give her with the supplies in the cave. 

“Ok.” He whispered to himself. He got up, and went to the radio He tinkered with the signal, and sent it out into the world. He probably could have sent it to the people in her book, but he wasn’t sure if they were people that would help her after she’d been working for the horde. He sent out an anonymous signal. The horde wouldn’t respond to that. Maybe someone else would. 

And if it was Brightmoon… He’d figure that out later. Brightmoon wasn’t ideal, but it was better than the Horde. Brightmoon would be a fighting chance. Shadow Weaver had gone there, and she hadn’t been executed because she was useful. Entrapta was twice as useful as Shadow Weaver. They may not forgive her, but he had to hope that they wouldn’t kill her. 

He had no such hopes for himself. He sent the signal. 

He went back to Entrapta’s now seemingly lifeless body, checked her heart, and her breathing again, then got a pillow and the scrap of his old cloak and covered her up. 

Imp looked up at him, a sad whimper coming from his throat. 

“That flare gun you found in our ship when we were coming here.” He said softly. “Get that. If you see any ships passing above the cave, fire a flare.” There was another soft whimper, a question. “Doesn’t matter who it is. She needs help, or she’ll die.” 

He picked up the supplies from the first aid kit, and started to clean the wound. He wasn’t sure if it would help, but he had to do something. He wrapped the wound around the quill, and gently pressed adhesive tape over her side. He took a dry cloth, dipped it in their drinking water, and cleaned the dirt and sweat from her face. He wondered if the quill had poison in it. He wasn’t sure. 

An hour passed. Her heart was still beating, her breath still shallow. The bandages were slowly turning pink. There was nothing in the sky, not yet. In the darkness if there was any ship he’d at least see their lights cutting through the sky. 

Another hour passed. 

Then another. 

The paralytic started to wear off. He noticed it at first because she started whimpering in pain. He set his hand on her forehead, unsure of what to do to calm her. He felt something wet against his leg. He looked, and saw that the blood from her wound was starting to pour. 

He cursed loudly, and grabbed more bandages, applying pressure to the wound to keep her from bleeding out. Her face was pale, her lips turning white. He leaned down, whispering to her. “Come on.” He whispered, “Just stay asleep. Just try to calm down. If your heart rate increases, you’ll bleed out.” He hoped he could hear her. Hoped that she could hear his voice so she’d at least know she wasn’t alone. 

He was glad for one thing. Even if he failed, even if she died, he had come for her. He hadn’t abandoned her. He told her how he felt - though he knew he should have told her sooner, and now, if she died, she died in his arms. She wasn’t dying alone. 

He heard something outside. 

He glanced up, and saw Imp looking out into the sky. He couldn’t see what he saw, but Imp suddenly held up the flare gun, and fired, illuminating the sky with bright green sparks. 

Someone had come. 

The noise startled Entrapta. She moaned in pain, and Hordak felt blood seep over his fingers. He pressed down as much as he dared. 

“Someone’s come.” He said frantically, “Just keep calm. Someone’s here to help you. PLease just don’t die.” He felt his throat constrict as he worked, trying to stop the endless bleeding. 

Imp ran from the entrance of the cave with a screech, and dashed behind Hordak. He looked up, and saw a shining light. 

It was his previous Force-Captain, The girl Adora that he been there the night Catra activated the portal, but she was She-ra now. large and illuminated as she was when she destroyed his portal. She was on some form of flying horse, and dark skinned boy riding behind her, bow drawn, ready to fire. 

“Hordak!” she cried in surprise he she saw him. She jumped down, sword drawn, “Get away from her or I’ll-” 

“I SURRENDER.” Hordak cried out. His hands were covered in Entrapta’s blood now, it was seeping out from the bandages he hand, and onto the floor. His tunic was stained, and sticky with it. “I SURRENDER.” He shouted again, “JUST SAVE HER!” 

He felt something hit his chest, and something wrapped around him, binding his arms to his side as he fell to the ground. She-ra approached, sword drawn. 

“She’s bleeding out.” He shouted. “I was holding the bandages, She’s going to die!” 

She-ra looked down at Entrapta, her eyes lingering on the quill. For a horrible moment, he thought they’d leave her to bleed out. 

She grasped the quill, and pulled. Blood spurted out from the wound as She-ra knelt down, sword out before her. There was a bright light, and Hordak had to look away to keep it from burning his eyes. 

Then slowly, the light faded, and from the silence in the cave, he heard, soft and unsure, Entrapta’s voice, whispering out, “Hordak?”

She was alive. He looked, and saw She-ra slowly helping her up. The boy still had his weapon drawn, and pointed towards Hordak, but he didn’t care about that. All he cared about was that Entrapta sat up, looking around as life returned to her eyes. 

He stopped straining against the ropes that held him, and lay still on the ground, content.


	8. Love

Slowly, Hordak realized what trouble he was in.

He was without his armor, without a weapon, bound by this ridiculous arrow trap with a giant magical princess warrior wielding a giant magical sword hanging over him, with her archer friend next to her. 

As with much in his life in the last while, this situation was not ideal 

Entrapta looked around from him, to Adora and the boy. “Adora! Bow! What are you two doing here?”

Ah, the archer’s name was Bow. He hoped that was a nickname. 

Imp came out from the shadows of the cave, and stood before Hordak and the others, hissing . Hordak managed to get himself to his feet - thankfully only his arms were bound around him. 

Adora- no, She-ra - was there a difference? She approached him, sword drawn. 

“Hordak.” he was looking at him with the same eyes that she had when she told him so earnestly that she would ensure that he failed. “You’ve surrendered. Stay on your knees.” 

He hesitated for a moment, then figured that for the moment, cooperation might be ideal. Bow turned to Entrapta, “We got your distress signal. We didn’t know it was you, but we got here as fast as we could. 

Entrapta looked confused, “Distress signal? I didn’t send a distress signal. 

“You didn’t? Bow was confused, “Then who.”

“It was me, obviously.” 

Hordak’s voice, though not lifted to a yell, echoed in the cave. 

Bow looked over at him, a mixture of fear and confusion on his face. At least there were still some people in whom he could invoke fear. 

“What are you even doing here.” Adora demanded. Hordak remained silent, then glanced over to Entrapta. 

“Entrapta was mistakenly sent to Beast Island by one of my force Captains. My retrieval of her was not.. As it could have been.” 

“You mean you sent her to Beast Island.” Adora accused, her sword coming closer to her face, “After Catra told you that she let the princesses in.”

A low hiss filled his throat, “I did no such thing.”

“It was Catra.” Entrapra said, “She sent me here when I was going to tell Hordak not to open the portal. Remember? I told you, Hordak’s my Lab partner.. My friend? Do you remember when everything was disappearing?”

Hordak looked at her, a brow ridge rising slightly. He had a vague memory of when the portal was opened, but it was brief, like a dream. Like a bad dream with a pain he couldn’t place.

“I sent the distress signal out because she was injured.” Hordak said, keeping his voice even, “ If I hadn’t gotten help immediately, she would have died.”

Adora and Bow exchanged glances. 

“He didn't hurt me.” Entrapta insisted, “There was this giant creature like a hippo, but it had giant spikes like a porcupine hidden under it’s skin. I thought it was a hill at first and… “ she glanced at the quill which glistened red with her blood, “I guess I was a little careless.”

Bow frowned, “What do we do with him.” he asked Adora. 

“Honestly, if you could we could -really use a lift off the island. It’s not ideal for experimentation, and i”m unsure how sustainable long term habitation here would be.” 

“‘We’?” Adora was incredulous, “ You think we’re going to drop him off somewhere safe?”

“Well, if you’re going to take me, why wouldn’t you take him?”

“Because He’s Hordak! He’s the leader of the Horde!” 

A thought came to Hordak - he didn’t know why he didn’t say something sooner. “Not anymore.” He said. They looked back at him. 

“What… Catra usurped you?” Adora said,  
Mirth coating her words.

Hordak grit his teeth. That potentially could be correct in the near future, but in the meantime, “No. It’s been handed over to a different commander. My commander.”

“That’s right!” Entrapta said, jumping up on the ends of her hair. She slowly set herself between Hordak, and the others, “Horde Prime.” 

“I’ve never heard of Horde Prime.” Adora said firmly. 

“Of course you hadn’t. He’s a warlord, the emperor of the known universe. He’s conquered countless planets and galaxies. You … People,” He nearly said fools, but felt that would at this moment not be ‘diplomatic’ “ Wouldn’t have believed that because you don’t even know other planets are out there. Why try to explain?”

“And he’s just come here now?”

He felt a tendril of Entrapta’s hair snake around his wrists. She was trying to covertly undo his bindings. Good. He still wouldn’t be much in a fight right now, but that would be better anyway. 

But he had to buy some time while she did that. “

“The portal sent a signal out into the cosmos. He picked it up and followed it, opening his own portal from his side. He’s arrived with a small Reconnaissance force, likely to see the state of my.. Of the Hords troops here before launching a full scale invasion. 

“We’ve already been holding the Horde at bay. We can manage a few extra-” 

“You don’t understand, you fool.” Oops. he took a deep breath, “the full Horde army has more soldiers than you can comprehend. Each of them, the lowliest grunt is comparable to my own strength.” This was true- he wasn’t weak with his armor, nor had he been when he was young and healthy, but it had been his mind, his intelligence that had distinguished him from the other clones. It was something he often thought about back in the day when he worked under Prime, why he was different when they were all clones. But later on, he decided that his defect might have affected his mind as well, making him think differently from the other clones. 

“If Horde Prime is allowed to bring his full force to Etheria, it won’t be a war. It will be destruction. Those who do not bow to Horde Prime, and pledge their loyalty to him will be killed.”

“We will stand against him, we - “ 

“He’s destroyed planets. If this one caused enough problems, it would be nothing for him to destroy it. Or if he decided he wanted to use the resources, he could easily terraform the land, make the air unbreathable to you people, then take the resources he wanted. He could do this in a matter of minutes, without a concern.”

“Then why hasn’t he already done this.” 

Hordak felt the rope come undone, and Entrapta’s hair slid away from his hands, He held his hands behind him for another moment, then, as though he broke the rope himself, brought his hands before him, resting them on his thighs. “Because he’d rather take it, and rule it. People are a resource too. Information, technology, even arts and culture to spread across his empire. A new planet, a new culture can be marketed to more prosperous planets and peoples. But first, he will conquer the world. He will kill any rebels. He will subjugate this planet.” 

“And why do you have a problem with this.” 

He hesitated for a moment, glancing at Entrapta. He still hadn’t gotten up to his feet, so they were at face level to one another, her hair slowly coiling between them, and Bow and Adora. 

“I could likely survive, one way or another. Entrapta would not.”

“The bottom line is, Hordak is your prisoner, yes?” Entrapta was speaking now, more quickly than he was, “And you’ll need help to fight Horde Prime. Horde Prime will have technology beyond our comprehension.” Her hair started to frizz, she was getting a little excited thinking about it, “From all corners of the universe. If you want to have any chance of stopping him, you’ll need us. Together, we’re the best scientists on the planet, and Hordak is the only one who knows anything about Horde Prime.” 

They hesitated, still not happy with the idea of taking Hordak with them. 

“And besides that.” Entrapta said, an odd tone of anger in her voice, “I’m not leaving without Hordak. So you might as well turn around and leave if you’re not taking him with us, or get ready to fight me.” 

Hordak wasn’t used to hearing anger in her voice, and if he were to be honest, he liked it. 

“Why?” Adora asked, her sword lowering slowly. Entrapta gave a big smile, then looked sideways, catching Hordak’s eye. 

“Because he’s my Lab Partner, and I love him, too.” 

\---------------

They decided to take them back to Bright Moon as defectors. He had no doubt that once he got there, he would be imprisoned for the time. But that was fine. He could make himself useful, they would see that. 

At least, they would if they wanted to survive. 

Thankfully, they hadn’t flown to Beast Island on the flying horse. They had brought a larger transport - just in case there was a larger group of people to get off the Island. This was fortuitous because Entrapta insisted on taking several boxes of scrap, her tools, and the box with Hordak’s armor, insisting it would all be useful if they were going to figure out a way to stop Prime. She wasn’t leaving without Emily, of course, and Imp was going with them too because in Entrapta’s words, “He’s just so cute.” 

There was hardly room to move by the time the horse walked in. Hordak muttered under his breath, “Must the horse ride in this.” 

“Hey, it’s a two hour flight. You wanna fly outside, be my guest.” 

And that was how Hordak learned the Horse could talk. He didn’t use horses himself, but he was certain they normally couldn’t speak. 

And thus started the very uncomfortable, awkward flight to Bright Moon. 

Adora had been hesitant to transform back to normal Adora with Hordak in the transport, but space wouldn’t allow her to stay as She-ra, so she turned back. Bow flew the transport, Adora sat on a crate, facing Entrapta and Hordak, who were sitting on the floor between crates. 

He was grateful for Entrapta for rambling on, her data pad in her hair, going over data she collected from her time in the Horde, sorting it so she could dive into it when she got situated in a lab at Bright Moon. 

Bow looked back towards Hordak, hesitated for a moment, then asked, “So.. This Prime guy is controlling the Horde. But you serve him, yes? Why didn’t you go to Beast Island with more supplies, or a better ship… and-” He looked at Entrapta, “Why aren’t you asking to go to your lab in Dryl?”

Hordak suppressed a growl, “Horde Prime was… unsatisfied in my failure to conquer Etheria for him before his arrival.”

“So he sent you to Beast Island?”

“Was the idea of one of the Force Captains who knew Entrapta was there. If left to his own devices, he’d probably have preferred a far more deadly, painful, and likely public form of execution.” 

“Ah.” Bow turned back to his flying. Clearly there were other questions on his mind. 

“It seems a little silly to me.” Entrapta said as she went through some data, “I mean, viewing success or failure as an if-else situation.”

“Isn’t that what you do.” Adora hissed, looking at Hordak. 

“Prime would have considered me far too lenient, far too forgiving.”

“Forgiving?? Shadow Weaver served you for years, and you were going to send her to Beast Island for - “ 

For disobeying countless orders and continued failures.” He stated. “Prime would have killed her on the spot for the first one.” 

Adora frowned, “Why would anyone work under him then. Why did you?”

He really didn’t want to explain the whole thing at this very moment. Though he knew he’d probably have to. 

“I’ll probably have to tell everything to your queen, yes? Suffice to say it wasn’t a choice.”

“Yeah, Glimmer will want to know.” Bow said. Entrapta stopped her work, and looked up. 

“Glimmer? No, Angella is the -”

“Angella sacrificed herself to close the portal you two built.” Adora said. 

“In our defense, we didn’t know the effect it would have, and I for one checked the data after your warning, and was going to stop the whole experiment. Catra just… Had other plans I guess.” 

“But you built the portal to bring Prime here in the first place, didn’t you?” Adora demanded, “And you’re just here because he didn’t have use for you anymore.” 

Hordak frowned. She wasn’t wrong. 

“He’s here because he came to save me.” Entrapta said, “And if that means we’re working with you to stop Prime, isn’t that good enough for now?”

“And you?”

“I’m interested in the cosmos…” Entrapta said slowly, “But I'm somewhat fond of this planet as well. Besides, this Prime doesn’t seem like the kind of person I’d work well with.” 

Another long silence between them. Bow finally spoke up 

“Honesty Adora, this is as good of a reason as Shadow Weaver gave, and we work with her now so.” 

“It’s not the same!” Adora insisted. “She...She- “

“Worked under me, and worked well under me for a long time.” Hordak said, “And I know she had once been loyal to Bright Moon. She was a traitor, and you took her in. You were raised in the Horde, and you’re now a princess.” He looked away, “A bigger threat comes, proves a threat to me as well, it makes tactical sense to join forces.” 

Adora frowned, then turned around, watching the sky ahead of her. Hordak suppressed a sigh. 

It was going to be a long ride to BrightMoon.


	9. Prison

“I...may have overestimated the ‘prisons’ of Bright Moon.”

Hordak let his eyes wander over the very lavish looking living quarters. Emily beeped as imp jumped off her head and jumped onto the biggest beg Hordak had ever seen. He tried to stand on it but ended up losing his balance on the soft mattress. He struggled for a moment before giving up his fight against gravity and deciding to just lay there. 

  
  


The rest of the flight to Bright Moon had been tense and awkward. Their captors hadn’t made any mention of Entrapta’s profession of love to him - Despite the circumstances, hearing her say it had made him feel like his chest was going to burst. They hadn’t said anything for which he was grateful as he didn’t want to go over something he had only just admitted to Entrapta with these people. 

But they should have. They looked surprised when Entrapta said it, but they didn’t act on it. They didn’t ask about it. Maybe they weren’t concerned about it? No, he couldn’t see that. 

It was late when they got to Bright Moon. He was pretty sure he had heard Adora mutter to Bow that she “Really… just can’t deal with this strangeness this late.” So it had been decided that they would be placed in the same “Prison” that Shadow Weaver had stayed in when she their captive, and they would tell Glimmer about them in the morning. 

Hordak had been to many planets, had seen many fortresses, and many prisons, jails, and holding cells. Given how quaint Etheria was, he had expected old stone dungeons with shackles. Maybe if he was lucky a little pile of scraps to sit on, damp and moldy. He was especially worried because Entrapta insisted on taking Emily, and he wasn’t sure how big these prison cells might be. But Entrapta had insisted that she couldn’t abandon Emily, and Adora seemed to balk at this, and relented. 

“I don’t think this is a prison.” Entrapta said softly, looking around at the large, overly comfortable room they had been put into, “It’s more of a suite…. With magic at the exits.”

A suite was the best way to put it. There were several large windows that opened out to patios, but which were inaccessible due to a force field of magic. The excessively large bed was covered with soft looking blankets. There was a soft looking chair in a corner, a table with chairs in the center of the room, and a fountain trickling down over one of the windows. 

If he tried really hard, the only criticism he might have had of the place was that there seemed to be too few cushions, but that was only compared to the relative comfort of the rest of the room. 

“Are we prisoners, or guests.” Hordak muttered. He really shouldn’t have been upset by his accommodations but…. These were the people who had been beating him. His ears drooped slightly. 

Entrapta glided along on her hair, picking at everything in the room. “You know, I could get us out of here.” She muttered as she poked at things. “Emily has some basic repair tools stashed on her, and she’s in part first ones tech, so I’m sure I could create a hole in the barrier.” She looked at the window, and rested her gloved hand on the barrier. It seemed solid, but didn’t seem to react. 

Hordak frowned as he looked around the room, taking in the pastel decor, the drapes, the plants that were hanging from holders in the wall. Emily beeped as imp jumped off her head and jumped onto the giant bed, trying to stand on it but losing his balance on the soft mattress. He struggled for a moment before giving up his fight against gravity and deciding to just lay there. 

“As much as I’d like to leave this....Situation, without my armor fully functional, I can’t fight my way through any guards we might encounter.” he growled, and walked towards her, “At this point, it might be best to stay here, see how this plays out.” 

“Hmm. I might be able to get my hands on a power source for your armor.” She said slowly, still looking out the window. She half turned to Hordak, an unusually somber expression on her face. “I’m sorry, Hordak.” 

He was confused, “For…?”

“It’s my fault we’re here.” She said, lowering herself down to the floor, “If I had listened, if you had come with me, or if- “

“No.” Hordak said, “I sent out the distress signal.” 

“Only because I -” 

“Were doing what you had to do to get us off Beast island. If I -” He hesitated for a moment, then turned aside, “If I hadn’t believed Catra in the first place, I’d have gotten you off the island when I had the resources for a proper rescue mission, or you’d not have ended up there at all.” 

He felt a tendril of hair on his shoulder. “If we’re going to place blame,” Entrapta said softly, “For all of this, I’d say Catra is really the one to blame.” 

“But I could have -” 

“Could have questioned Catra more, sure. I could have listened to Adora as soon as she mentioned a larger risk in the portal. Or, If I had paid more attention to the irregularities in my data, I would have seen the issue before she said anything.” She turned him to her, holding him in place by his shoulders with his hair. “ There’s a thousand little things we could have done differently, that we could blame ourselves for -“ She trailed off, then looked up at him and started laughing, “Heh. Look at that. I started out feeling bad because of all this. I think I argued against myself.” 

He felt a smile pull at his lips. He still felt like he should have done better by her, but he was more than happy to blame Catra for all this. He wondered if Entrapta would like a cat-fur blanket when this was all sorted out. 

Entrapta looked around, and saw some of the Tapestries behind Hordak, “Oooh, I wonder if these are hiding anything. She got back up on her hair, and went over to look. She pulled aside curtains and tapestries that covered the walls, and found a door. “Oooh, an unsecured door.” she pulled the door open, and peeked inside, “Oh, it’s just a washroom.” she looked around for a moment, and then gasped, “Oh, a bathtub! It’s huge!” 

Hordak sighed, strode over to the chair, and tried to sit, but fell into the overstuffed upholstery, sinking unexpectedly several inches down. He looked again around the room, taking in everything, considering the space available to him. His eyes landed on Imp, who had fallen asleep on the large bed. 

He needed a plan now, and unfortunately he didn’t like his best one. Provided the Rebellion didn’t decide to execute him, this might be the best place for the time. Entrapta was safe, they were comfortable, and they might get to fix his armor. If they got his armor fixed he could think of another plan, but with the Fright Zone out of his grasp, he didn’t know where else he could go. 

He was pondering this, lost in thought, going over various best and worst case scenarios about being captured and ‘imprisoned’ in Bright Moon when he felt Entrapta’s hair curl around his wrist. 

“Come on.” She said, elevated up on her feet, “They have a HUGE tub, and I poured a hot bath. I’ve not had a proper bath in a while. Neither have you.”

“I don’t take baths.” He said stiffly, “I shower.” 

“Well, there’s no showers in here, so you’ll have to manage with a bath.”

He allowed himself to be led to the washroom- far bigger than he had expected, the “bath” was more of a pool, and other facilities were hidden behind a second door in the back. Entrapta slowly helped him with the frame that was plugged into his ports and strapped to his body. He suffered the jolts of pain as each port was freed up, and when the last strap was undone, the metal clanking against the floor as it fell, he took a deep breath. 

It was very uncomfortable. He was used to the armor he had before, the armor Entrapta had made for him which fit him so perfectly, and curved against his skin. This makeshift armor left red welts where it had been strapped on. Entrapta saw this, and clicked her tongue. 

“Maybe I can rig some padding for this until we can get your armor fixed properly.” she looked him up and down, then started to undress, “Meantime, a bath will help. They have all kinds of oils and salts, I put a bunch in. I think some of them are supposed to be good for your muscles, So I thought that would help. 

He sighed, and turned to leave.    
  


“Where are you going?” 

“... To let you bathe?”

“Don’t be so silly, I drew it for you. It’s just big enough for both of us.” She started tugging off his tunic with her hair. He muttered under his breath as she took over from her hair, pulling off his tunic and tossing the torn and bloodstained fabric to the floor as he quickly settled into the giant tub, letting the bubbles that had formed across the surface cover him mostly to his neck

At this point he knew better than to argue with her, and at any rate, he wasn’t necessarily opposed to a bath- he was filthy, but it just felt odd to him sharing a bath with someone. 

Entrapta took greater time, carefully folding her torn clothes and setting them aside before jumping in, splashing Hordak with water as she settled in with her hair hanging outside the tub. She gave a sigh of contentment. 

“I thought I’d never have a bath again.” She said, her voice sounding like she was melting. “I don’t understand why the fright zone doesn’t have nice baths or beds.”

“Primarily because they’re unnecessary.” Hordak responded, “better question; why does bright moons “prison” have one.” He smirked.

Entrapta sighed happily as she sunk deeper into the water. She closed her eyes and hummed happily for a few moments. 

The water was actually quite nice on his muscles and sores caused by the frame.

He was starting to relax, his muscles unknotting, his eyes slowly closing when he heard Entrapta cleared her throat. He opened his eyes and glanced at her. Her hair wasn't hiding her face necessarily, but it was close.

Back on Beast Island…” she said slowly, “you… did you mean it?” 

He stared at her, blinking, “mean it?” 

“Yeah, you didn’t just say it because you thought I was going to die, because I mean If you -did- that’s still really nice but I’d really like to know if you actually meant-“

She had been looking everywhere but at him, her hair twisting around her. She didn’t notice him cross the pool sized tub until he was in front of her. 

His ears dropped, turning slightly blue as he cupped her face with his hand. He wasn’t used to being, as she’d put it, romantic or ‘sweet’ and he still felt that he must seem ridiculous, a giant alien warlord doing something sappy. 

But it made Entrapta very happy the odd time he did. So feeling his ears burning, he leaned in, brought his lips close to her ears, and said, “Entrapta...I love you more than I thought I was able to love anything.” He leaned in, hesitated for a moment to give her a chance to move away if she wanted (she didn’t), and then gently kissed her cheek. She turned, gently kissing him on the lips, her hair twisting around him. 

“I know…” she said when the kiss broke, “But it’s nice to be told.” She smiled, and looked up at him, “I love you, too.” She slowly reached up to put her hand on the back of his neck, frowned, the pulled her hand away, looking at her fingers with a laugh.

“You still have cave dirt on the back of your neck.” She chided, giggling. 

Hordak frowned, and huffed, “well you have sand in your hair.”

“Fair enough,” she grabbed Hordak with her hair and turned him so her was back on to her, “I’ll get your back, and then you can help me with my hair.”

In truth, his anatomy allowed him to wash his own back, but he let her. She took a sponge and some vaguely mint scented soap and carefully washed his back, occasionally tracing her fingers over where the blue skin merged with the white. 

She found him fascinating. In truth nobody on Etheria who has seen him without his full armor on had looked at him with anything other than disgust or fear before Entrapta. She looked at him with admiration, curiosity… affection.

It was one of the reasons he loved her. And as he thought of that, he felt how light that thought was now, since he had just accepted it, and wasn’t agonizing over how to tell her.

She rinsed his back, and started gently scratching around his ports. He relaxed his shoulders, slouching forward slightly. He figured he might as well try to enjoy this while he could- he was certain that getting all the dirt and dust out of her hair would be a nightmare.

——

Finally free of the grit and dirt of Beast Island, Entrapta managed to find some robes hung up in a closet, “I’m really starting to think this is a guest room.” She said as she brought the robes over to him. It fit his lanky frame, but it was far too short, white, and slightly fluffy for him to be comfortable in. 

They managed to clean out their clothes as best as they could. Emily was tasked with drying them, pointing her heat vent at their clothing to dry them quickly. 

“At least we get a bath, clean clothes, and a good night's sleep in a comfortable bed.” She said, “And if this is any indication of how we’re going to be treated, maybe we’ll get a good breakfast. Ohh! I hope they decide to make little pancakes.” She gently moved Imp to the foot of the bed, slipped out of her robe, and crawled naked under the blankets.

“A good morning of sleep, you mean.” he said as he watched the sun start to rise in the sky, it’s light filtering through the magically sealed windows that separated them from the outside world. 

“A few hours in a comfortable bed.” She muttered as she snuggled into the bed. She wrapped her hair around his waist, pulling him towards her. 

“You need sleep too.” She muttered. He sighed, and sat down on the bed, sinking down into it. “Why is everything so soft.” He grumbled as Entrapta took his robe off, laying it on the floor. 

“I like soft.” She said with a yawn. As she pulled him down and wrapped her hair around him, she muttered, “I thought you were starting to like - some- soft things.” 

Hordak grumbled, but didn’t contradict her. Going to sleep at the same time was strange for them. He only needed an hour, she needed a full eight. But the odd time that they did, generally in his own quarters just off his sanctum, she’d wrap her hair around him, and once she fell asleep she’d snuggle into his back, her arms wrapped around his waist. 

He didn’t mind it. 

She pulled him close, drew the blanket over them both, and wrapped her arm over him. He considered that maybe he should stay awake until their clothes were dry at least, so they could be dressed if anyone came in. 

“‘Night” she muttered into his back. He grunted in response. 

“I love you.” She said softly. 

“....love you too.” 

Plans to stay up escaped him as he dozed off, wrapped in Entrapta’s arms and hair, the warmth of her body pressing against his back. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What happened in that bathtub?
> 
> NSFW portion HERE: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21975877


	10. Truth

It was a painful, shrill scream that woke him.

He sat up quickly, his eyes adjusting to the light as he looked for threats, and located Entrapta who was… slowly waking, rubbing her eyes with a frown. It took him a second to remember where he was, and the events of the previous night. He turned quickly to the door.

Adora and Bow stood on either side of the princess he recognized as Glimmer, whose mouth was still open from her scream. Bow and Adora were staring in horror. He’d have taken this as a normal reaction to his very presence among those of the rebellion were it not for the bemused smirks of the guards behind them. 

Entrapta sat up, holding the blanket to her chest, muttering incoherently. 

Ah. Right. Hordak felt his ears flick down as they started to burn. They were still naked. So much for waking up and being prepared. He tugged the blanket a little closer around his waist, wishing he hadn’t sat up so quickly.

Before he could say anything, Entrapta has apparently woken up enough to realize the situation. She gave a small squeak of terror before her hair fluffed out and wrapped around her and Hordak.

“Why didn’t you knock!!” Entrapta cried, her face flushed red

“You’re our prisoners!” Glimmer finally stammered, Her face red and sputtering, “You don’t get a knock! Did you really just-“ she stopped and turned around, “Oh god. In the guest bed.”

Hordak didn’t feel like correcting her assumption. But He and Entrapta had been right - It was a guest room, not a prison. 

“Well, there  _ is _ only one bed.” He said, his voice cool and level despite his sudden desire to melt away into nothing. 

“And that means you have to strip down to sleep??”

“Given that you took all our things, and that the clothes we had were filthy and torn...yes.” He really wished his ears would stop burning. 

There were a few moments of tense silence before he said, “if you leave, I’m more than happy to dress.”

They disappeared in a flash. 

Entrapta sent a tendril of hair to the door to close it as Hordak groaned and rested his face in his hands.

“Yes. This is just how I wanted this to start.” He grumbled. He got up and walked over to where Emily was holding the now dry garments. He threw his clean but tattered tunic over himself, then brought Entrapta’s things over to her. 

“It’s their fault for just barging in like that. They  _ Should _ have knocked.” She frowned and looked up at Hordak, her face still red, “This isn’t an issue when you only live around robots.” 

Imp, who had been sleeping on the foot of the bed, was cackling madly. Hordak glared at him as he set her things on the bed. 

“At least I know I can still be scary.” He muttered

Entrapta rose up and gave him a quick kiss, “Well, I don’t think your scary. Naked or otherwise.”

Hordak couldn’t help the quick smile that flickered across his face. 

—————-

A few minutes later there was, surprisingly, a knock on the door. Entrapta, now fully dressed and sitting cross legged on the bed, shot her hair out to open it.

Bow, Adora, Glimmer, and the two guards (who, irritatingly, still smirking) walked in. Glimmer had an air of importance about her, and almost seemed like she was trying to make herself look taller. The effect was ruined by the slight blush that crept over her ears as she pointed to Hordak. 

“You will come with us, and submit to questioning.” She ordered, though Hordak could tell it was a very practiced order. There was a stiffness to her speech and body that gave it away. 

They had a pair of glowing cuffs in their hands. Clearly they intended to restrain him. “I assure you, those are unnecessary.”

“Yeah, well you’re still gonna wear them.” Glimmer said condescendingly. He fumed as he took a step towards her. He had to be diplomatic, he had to suffer these people for now. 

“I’ll go too! “ Entrapta said, getting up off the bet. Glimmer and Hordak both looked at her and said, “No!”

Hordak hesitated for a moment, then said to Entrapta, “This is fine.” as he held his hands out to be handcuffed. This was, in fact, not fine. He didn’t trust that they wouldn’t separate them, and he wasn’t entirely sure that ‘questioning’ didn’t involve torture. BUt that didn’t matter, pain he could take. But if Entrapta was there, they could use her to get to him. He wasn’t sure if they would hurt her or not - she was a Princess, but she had also been working for him, was clearly close to him, and moreover, had helped build the portal that had supposedly killed Glimmer’s mother. 

They might not be entirely friendly with her. 

“Will you bring him back?” Entrapta asked from behind him. They exchanged glances. “Promise me!” She demanded. He could see in the corner of his eye her hair starting to spread around her. 

“We’ll bring him back.” Bow said quickly as Glimmer put the restraints on him. 

\--------

They teleported across the palace. It made him dizzy, and when they popped into what appeared to be a bright and airy throne room, he nearly fell to his knees. 

He didn’t like magical teleportation, he decided quickly. He managed to stay on his feet, and looked around to take in the room. There were two more guards in the throne room, who stiffened, and stood at attention as they appeared. Standing next to the throne was Shadow Weaver. He suddenly felt a jolt of fear run through him. Yes, he could interrogate prisoners if he needed to, but for the most part he left that to Shadow Weaver. He never bother asked what she did, it wasn’t important to him, but she -always- got what she wanted. 

He calmed himself down by reminding himself that at this point, he had nothing really to lie about. Not now. 

“Lord Hordak.” She said with a tone of mocking reverence, “It’s surprising to see you here.” She looked him up and down, taking in his tattered clothing, and the makeshift armature that clung to his scrawny frame. “You’ve looked better.” 

Glimer sat on the throne, dwarfed by its size. “You sure this will work?” Glimmer asked Shadow Weaver as she glared at Hordak, nervousness clear on his face, and in her shaking tone. 

“Oh yes.” She said as she walked towards Hordak, “It’s never failed before.” 

Hordak refused to show fear. He stood as straight as he could, shoulders back, knowing that he didn’t cut quite as intimidating and imposing figure without his armor. Shadow Weaver approached slowly, and lifted her hands above him. 

He felt something settle over him, like static on his skin. He nearly took a step back, but stopped himself. Confusion was more prominent in him at this point than fear. 

Adora looked to Glimmer, “I saw this in the portal.” She said, “And MIchae said it always worked. I figured maybe Shadow Weaver had taught it to him. 

“It’s a truth spell.” Shadow Weaver said to Hordak as she backed away. It made him happier knowing that she at least didn’t feel comfortable turning her back on him, “I don’t recommend resisting it. Not unless you want to start babbling.” 

Hordak raised a brow, “A truth spell.” he said incredulously. He didn’t intend to say anything, but it came out, “Here I thought you were this interrogation savant, and you were just using a truth spell this entire time?”

It felt like there was a barrier missing. Like his thoughts were bypassing a part of his mind, and going right to his mouth. He cursed in his native tongue. 

“What did you just say?” Glimmer demanded. 

“An obscenity that doesn’t translate well into Etherian.” He said, “You lack certain parts of anatomy and culture to translate it so that it works.”

This was not good. 

“I think it’s working.” Shadow Weaver said, smug. She stood alongside Glimmer, “Go ahead, ask what you need to.” 

“What did you do to Entrapta.” 

The question took him by surprise. “Nothing.” He said quickly. 

“You had to do something.” Glimmer Hissed. “Adora and Bow said that  _ she _ said that she loved you.” Her eyes narrowed, “Did you keep her imprisoned until she broke? Did you Force her to work with you?” She teleported over to him, her hands balled into fists at her hip, “Did you brainwash her? Did you get inside her head and turn her into a cyborg?”

He felt indignation flood his head as he took a step back from the shrill, yelling Etherian, “I did nothing of the sort!” He snapped. 

“Then what did you do to her!?”

“I gave her full access to my lab, resources, technology, and data.” He said, “She was given more or less free access to my lab, and to the Fright Zone.  _ If _ she wanted to leave, she had every ability to.” 

“Why would she want to stay?” Adora asked. 

“Did you not hear me? I gave her access to all the data and technology that the Horde had in its possession.” He hesitated, then said, “Wait, No. That was after she decided to stay, I think. She enjoyed a limited range of the Hordes resources, proved herself a very capable and brilliant mind, and then I gave her full access.” 

  
  


“But why would she work for the Horde at all?” 

“Because she cares, first and foremost, about science.” He said. “Don’t you know anything about her?” He was saying anything that popped into his head. He didn’t like this. Truth was one thing, ongoing announcements from the inside of his mind was another. 

“Ok,” Glimmer snapped, “Then why were the two of you on beast Island? That’s a long way away from your ‘resources’”

His eyes narrowed, “Because Catra sent her there when she realized there was something wrong with the portal.” He snapped, “For some reason, she wanted to open the portal despite the dangers that proved to be there. I was there to find her.” 

“And why would she claim to love you.” Glimmer hissed, “Is that some trick or-” 

“I think she actually does.” Hordak responded, wishing he had some ability to filter his thoughts. 

“Why?”

“I have no idea.” He said, the words starting to babble out of him, “She’s perfect, she’s brilliant, She understands concepts and ideas that the rest of you on this rock can’t even begin to comprehend, and for some reason,” He tried to stop the words from leaving his mouth but as he thought them, they were being spoken., His ears flicked down, warming, “She deigns to spend her time with me, fixing my armor, talking about her theories, and she’s never -once- seemed terrified or disgusted by me. My insight on why she might love me is well beyond my comprehension.”

There was a moment of silence as the four of them exchanged confused glances. It was Bow who finally spoke, breaking the awkward silence, 

“Oh my god.” He whispered, “I think he loves her too.” 

“Of course I do.” He snapped, “Are you really so dense that I have to say that aloud?”

“Impossible.” Glimmer snapped, “He can’t! He’s Hordak! No, he’s using her.” 

“I’d have thought the same thing months ago, Princess-” 

  
“Queen.” Adora corrected. He frowned, 

“Queen Glimmer. I assure you this … turn of events was as surprising to me as it was to you. But now, here I am, under a truth spell, telling you all this after I’ve surrendered to you.”

There was another long silence. Before any of them could ask another question, he spoke up. “Before you ask me anything about myself and Entrapta, ask yourself, ‘Is this information I really want to know.’”

Another moment of silence, as Glimmer’s face fell with horror, and turned bright red. “Right.” She said quickly. 

“As interesting and entertaining as this is.” Shadow Weaver said, “I think there’s better questions we could be asking.” She turned to Adora, “You said he was talking about a greater invasion.” 

The spell didn’t make him speak this time, he would have told them about Horde Prime himself regardless. “Yes.” He said, “And if the invasion is allowed to start, Etheria will fall, and while Horde Prime isn’t much interested in genocide...” He let his eyes flick between the princesses, “Rebels will be executed en masse.” 

\--------

Shadow Weaver recast the spell while he was speaking, to make sure it lingered. He told them everything. He didn’t have much choice, and there were aspects of the story he wanted to leave out, - in particular him being a defective clone, but the magic didn’t allow that.

Horde Prime was here. 

Horde Prime had intended to kill him for his failure in taking over the planet, but Scorpia and Kyle had managed to get him sentenced to being sent to Beast Island, so he could find Entrapta, since they apparently figured out there was something between them. 

Horde Prime had only brought a small contingency to start. Once he had things sorted in the Fright Zone, he’d bring the rest of the troops he thought he might need. He could bring however many he needed for a quick and total takeover of the planet. 

No. There would be no resistance. They had an army, but Horde Prime had an army that spanned the universe. He could outnumber them 100 to 1 if he felt it necessary, and it wouldn’t concern him. 

“So why surrender to us.” Adora asked as he finished telling them all about Prime. 

“That had nothing to do with Horde Prime.” He said, “Entrapta was injured, and was likely going to die. I had no means of helping her. You were her best chance at survival.” 

“Even though you knew you’d be brought to Bright Moon. Imprisoned- “

“I’d hardly call my living situation, ‘imprisoned.’ He muttered. 

“-And questioned.” Adora snapped. “Why.” 

“Are you stupid.” He muttered, his ears flicking down, “I told you. I love her. I wouldn’t care if I was imprisoned in a proper prison, tortured… I’d rather not be killed at this point, but if Entrapta had died, I don’t know that I’d have cared either way.” 

There was a soft, audible, suppressed squeal. Hordak looked away from Glimmer and looked to the source of the sound - the boy, Bow. Adora and Glimmer were looking at him too. 

“Bow what..?”

“It’s nothing!” He said quickly. Hordak looked at him, frowning. Adora and Glimmer gave him a look of disbelief. 

“It’s just… This is always my favourite kind of story.” He said, excited, “The bad guy falling for ‘The Enemy’? It’s perfect! Do you know how many plays and novels work with this? They’re always my favourite!” 

“Yeah, but this is Hordak.” Glimmer said in disbelief. 

“But still!” 

“If this is how this conversation is going- “Hordak interrupted, his ears flat, “I’m hoping you can either let me go, or kill me?”

Glimer looked away from Bow and towards Hordak as though she had forgotten he was there. “You, “ She said, thinking quickly, “You will help us.” 

“I believe I already have.” He responded. “I’ve given you information that would have blindsided you, and given you a small chance at survival.” 

“You’ll help us stop this Prime guy.” He snapped. “You know all about him. You’re his clone. He has to have some kind of weakness.” 

“He does.” He said, “None that I can think of at the moment that he hasn’t accounted for, and which would have allowed for the takedown of an entire army of his clones.” He was rambling - it happened occasionally under this spell, it seemed, “And it would have to be the entire army. He has forces at a home base, a backup-body with a neural upload, and an army of devoted soldiers who will throw themselves at you with no regard for their own lives to help defend and avenge him if need be.” 

He started to think, his mind working suddenly to devise a way to stop the entire horde army. Unfortunately, under the effects of the spell, brainstorming came out of his mouth, “You’d have to kill or disable every clone, cut off his neural uplink. Potentially it could be hacked, but the encryption would be advanced, and it’s not like he doesn’t have his own tech people watching for interference. Closing off Etheria would be your best chance, isolating him here so you’d have a slim chance to defeating him with the small troops he’s brought, but now that he knows it’s here I have no doubt he’d be able to open his own portal-”

“That’s enough.” Glimmer said, rubbing her head. She looked at him. “Will you help us?” 

“Depends.” he said, “What happens to me after it’s all done?” 

Glimmer hesitated, and looked from Bow, to Shadow Weaver, to Adora, and then back to him, “What do you want.” 

“To go back to the Fright Zone. With Entrapta.” 

“You think we’d let you return? The Fright Zone will be returned to -.” 

“The Fright Zone has been under Horde Control for generations now.” He said, “it’s has its own culture.”

“And we’re supposed to let that culture continue?”

“What would your alternative be?” He asked, “Kill everyone who identifies the Fright Zone as their home? Split it up into smaller colonies?” He frowned, “You do know that many kingdoms surrendered peacefully and joined the Horde for access to technology? Especially kingdoms that didn’t have the same magical proficiency as places like Bright Moon.”

“Then we’ll manage the Fright Zone ourselves,” Glimmer said smugly. 

“Do you have any idea how complex the fright zone is.” He snapped, “The resources, the logistics. Do you have any idea what the Fright Zone can do.” He looked at Adora, “You only know the military expertise of the Fright Zone, but we’ve developed materials, resources, and techniques far beyond that Etheria has seen before I arrived. But you’d not know how to manage it, and you’d deal with a rebellion of your own if you tried to take it over. A rebellion with far more resources and better training, and proper prisons.” 

“... So you’d want to go back to the Fright Zone, to rule the Fright Zone… with Entrapta?”   
  


“If she’ll go back with me.” He said.

“And if she doesn’t?”

“Then I’ll relocate, and rule the Fright Zone where she wants to go.”    
  


“I mean, If she decided when this is over that she doesn’t want to be with you.” 

The idea sent a chill through his body. He wasn’t sure what he’d do. Could she change her mind?

“I am unsure.” He said, frowning. “I’ll not have a reason to continue my conquest of Etheria. I suppose I’d…” he hesitated. Without conquest, without Entrapta, what was there for him? The idea that he couldn’t think of anything scared him. “I’ll have to figure that out.”

“You’d stop your conquest?” Glimmer asked, surprised. He rose a brow ridge at her. 

“I’m assuming that’s how this works. I’ve surrendered to you. If I’m allowed to go back to my kingdom, then I'd be answering to you.” He frowned, “You really don’t know how this works, do you?” 

Glimmer tried to look scary, he was sure, with a frown and a glare, but she really just looked like she was pouting. She teleported back to the throne, and gestured to the guards “Bring him back to the prison.” She said, “We need to discuss this.” 

As the guard turned him and started to lead him away, Hordak couldn’t help but call out, “Your ‘Prison’ Makes a lovely guest suite!” 

He really hoped this spell wore off sooner than later. 


	11. Treaty

The room was empty when Hordak was returned to it. 

There was a brief moment of panic when ice filled his veins, but then he saw Imp, sitting on the bed and bouncing himself up and down. If something bad had happened, Imp wouldn’t be quite so at ease. He walked up to the bed, and looked down at Imp. “Where is she.” He demanded. 

Imp opened his mouth, and played a recording, “Imp-” It was Entrapta’s voice, and at least she sounded normal, “Let Hordak know that Glimmer and Adora came up to get me before he got back. They promise to bring me back after!” 

He suddenly remembered Glimmer’s question. If she decided when this is over that she doesn’t want to be with you? The question, for some reason, hadn’t occurred to him. That he might have been tricked he believed easily enough, but if someone loves you, could they change their mind? This was new territory for him. The idea that he himself might change his mind was unthinkable. Could Entrapta...

He sighed, and shook his head. No. That wasn’t a concern for now. He slowly sat on the bed, being careful to not sink into it too quickly. Imp flopped down on his stomach, and rolled into his back, grinning at Hordak. 

“At least you’re comfortable.” He muttered, putting his hand on Imps head. 

Horde Prime. Could he even be stopped? Moreover, could he be stopped by a defective clone like himself? Now that the truth spell didn’t have his mind running through things as quick as he could spit them out of his mouth he could think.

This was a big problem. A problem he wasn’t sure he could solve, but the first thing to do was look at least at the biggest, more prominent problem that fix that, and that problem was that at this very moment, if he felt so inclined, Horde Prime could descend on the planet with enough ships and drones and robots to blot out the sun for days. Of course he was unlikely to actually do that, but he could. And the fact that he could is what scared him the most. Nobody else seemed to understand just how massive the true horde army was. He was trying to describe an ocean to people who have only ever seen puddles in dirt roads. 

No. When Horde Prime opened his own portal, they’d lose. So he had to keep that portal from opening. His mind was racing through the potential sabotage he could manage on Prime’s tech when the door opened. It only opened a crack, then closed again before someone knocked. 

“Enter.” Hordak said, trying to keep his voice flat and neutral. The archer, Bow came in, carrying a tray. Hordak raised a brow as he pushed into the room. 

“Uh.. Food?” He said, lifting the tray. “Entrapta is eating with Glimmer and Adora, and I realized that you didn’t have anything to eat, so I brought you some of what they’re having.” 

“I see.” Hordak said, his voice low and quiet, “And… you don’t have servants to bring prisoners their meals?”

“We don’t normally have prisoners.”

“That much is apparent.” Hordak glanced at the tray as Bow set it down on an end table close to Hordak. Most of it, he was sure he wouldn’t be able to eat, the pancakes that Entrapta had hoped for covered in one of the syrups that she adored. But there was a small bowl of fruit on the tray as well, and what looked like two strips of fried meat. All in all it wasn’t much, but it was plenty for him. 

As Bow turned to leave, Hordak took the bowl of fruit, and ignoring the tiny fork that was alongside it, started tipping fruit into his mouth. 

“Do you think we can do it?” Bow asked, turning back as he approached the door. 

Hordak swallowed the fruit he had been chewing, and looked up at him, “Unsure.” He said simply. “There are many factors to be considered.” He picked up a grape from the bowl, and before he ate it said, “To be frank, the best chance that Etheria has is surrender.”

“Surrender? But you said he’d kill the rebels.”

“The rebel leaders.” Hordak corrected. “The princesses. Adora. If there’s anyone who in particular goes out of their way to cause trouble, then they will likely be executed as well. However, this would grant you the least amount of civilian casualties and damage.” 

“..But he’d kill Glimmer.” 

“And myself. And Entrapta.” He frowned before he popped the grape into his mouth. When it was gone, he said, “Look at this from… An outside point of view.” He knew Etherians weren’t able to logically separate themselves from a situation- emotion often took over, “By surrendering, you’re trading a handful of lives for the safety of your planet and people.” 

“But you just said he’d kill Entrapta too. You don’t-”

“I didn’t say it was the result I wanted or liked.” He said stiffly, “I said it’s the best result for the most people.” 

Bow seemed to pause, his lips pressed tightly together. After a long moment, he asked, “If he takes over, what happens to Etheria?”

“Most likely, you’d be a colony planet, and he’d have the ability to take what resources and people he wants from you.” He ate the last of the fruit, and then picked up one of the crispy pieces of meat. “You’d all end up under Horde rule. The royalty would be killed.” 

He watched Bow’s face carefully. He knew the look he had. He’d seen it on the faces of many people when they considered surrender. “That’s not to be worried about for now.” He said quickly, “If he gets his troops here, then you can surrender.” He started thinking quickly, ideas and plans coming to mind, “He’ll probably send people to discuss your terms of surrender. Be polite, don’t dismiss them outright, bide your time. Don’t surrender until we’ve failed to stop the full invasion.”

“You’ve done this before.” 

“I’ve been doing this long before you were born.” Hordak muttered after he swallowed some of the meat. It was good, though very salty. 

“You said he’d blow up the planet.”

“I said he -could- and would if he got irritated enough. If you managed to resist him enough, or anger and insult him… Well, Etheria isn’t special enough that he’d not simply use it to send a message to other planets.” Hordak frowned, “There’s no point in worrying about that now. If he wins, you’ll have to accept what happens next. Until then, we can fight.” 

Bow was silent for a moment, then sighed and nodded. He looked like he was about to leave again, then noticed the plate, “You… don’t like pancakes?” He asked. 

“No idea” Hordak said idly, “I can’t eat them.” 

Bow raised a brow, “You can’t?”

Hordak hesitated for a moment, but figured if he’d be here for a while, he’d have to tell them what he can’t eat. 

“Grains and dairy will make me very sick. Refined sugar will… Mess with my head before making me very sick. Eggs could kill me in the right amount.” 

“Kill you? How? They’re eggs!”

“They’ll make my stomach eat itself.” He said simply. It would be an unpleasant death. “If you decide to poison me, please don’t do it with eggs.” 

“Oh.” bow Hesitated for a moment, then said, “Do… you mind if I eat them? I haven’t eaten since last night.” 

Hordak waved a hand at them, “Go ahead. I’m not going to eat them.” 

Bow pulled a chair up to the end table, and dug into the pancakes. Hordak frowned. He didn’t realize he had invited Bow to stay. He must have caught Hordak’s look, and paled for a moment before he swallowed his bit of pancake, 

“Sorry. I was really hungry.”

“I see.” Hordak said. “Why aren’t you with your friends anyway. Adora and Glimmer.” 

“Entrapta is my friend too.” Bow said. 

“I was under the impression that you had abandoned her in the fright zone.” He hissed. He couldn’t help the rage from seeping into his voice there.

Bow shook his head, “No! We’d never do that!” He snapped, “We… We thought she was dead.” He frowned at the pancakes, as though they had offended him, “Adora said that Entrapta said that Catra told her she had been left behind…” 

Hordak’s eyes narrowed. Catra. He was happy enough that Entrapta had ended up in the Fright Zone mind, but still…

Her hurt when he told him how her old friends had abandoned her had struck him. 

“But… I guess you know what Catra’s like.” He said, “Since she told you Entrapta betrayed you.” 

Hordak felt his ears flick down. He really hated that truth spell they had put on him. He didn’t need everyone knowing everything about him. He decided to get back on track, “Regardless, why aren’t you with them?”

“They said something about girl talk and told me it should be just them.” 

Hordak froze for a moment, but realized they likely wouldn’t ask her anything…. Too personal under a truth spell. The look on Glimmers face when he suggested she be careful what she asked was proof of that.

Bow consumed his food faster than Hordak thought he was able to. He had forgotten how quickly Etherians tend to eat- he had gotten used to Entrapta and her tiny food. 

“Can… Can I ask you something.” 

“You’ve been asking me questions, no?”

“A personal question.” 

“You could have asked that when I was being interrogated.” 

“Yeah… but it didn’t seem right.” 

Hordak could appreciate that at least. He felt a little grateful that Bow had held his questions back. 

“Go ahead. I may not answer, depending on the question.” 

“You and Entrapta are… really different.” He said slowly, “How did the two of you even become a thing?”

“A thing?”

“A couple.” 

Hordak almost said that it wasn’t his concern. He didn’t owe this Etherian any answers. But as he turned it around in his head, he considered this relatively harmless information given how much they knew. 

Besides that, He might need to be on, if not on good terms, then neutral terms with someone else in the castle. 

“She broke into my lab and fixed one of my experiments. Then demanded I tell her about all the other experiments I was working on.” He remembered that day. Nobody had ever come close to understand what he was working on, and even if they came close to grasping it, nobody had any curiosity about what he was working on. Before he had feelings for Entrapta, he was in part grateful to have a mind he could converse with, even if he wasn’t used to her energy at first. 

Bow grinned as he put the flateware on the plate, “Yeah… I can see her doing that.” 

There was a sudden knock on the door. Bow got up to open it. Glimmer, Adora, and Entrapta were on the other side. 

“What are you still doing here.” Glimmer hissed. 

“Uh… talking about Prime?” 

Glimmer rolled her eyes and walked into the room. Entrapta rushed over towards Hordak and plopped down next to him, her hair resting on his shoulder. 

“We’ve decided to trust you.” Glimmer said. “Well. ‘Trust’ is strong. You’ll be allowed -mostly- free reign of castle, and be provided what you need to help us stop Horde Prime.” She eyed Hordak, “You and Entrapta will both be fitted with bracelets that’ll keep you within the castle”

That was better than Hordak had expected. 

“You’ll also be accompanied at all times when leaving this room, either by guards, or by one of us.”

That was fair as well. Expected. However, “And if we actually stop Horde Prime?” He asked, watching her face carefully. Glimmer frowned, and he felt Entrapta tense next to him. He wondered if they had fought over this. 

“If we win…” Glimmer said softly, “You will be allowed to return to the Fright Zone. You’ll run the Fright Zone, but you’ll swear.. Uh..” She fumbled. She had practiced this speech on the way here, it seemed, but not well enough.

“Sovereignty?” Hordak offered. 

Glimmer huffed and turned red, her fists at her side. “I had it!” She snapped. She took a breath. “You’ll swear sovereignty to Bright Moon.”

“What will the terms of that be?”

Glimmer blinked, confused, “What?”

“Terms. Do you want tariffs? Natural resources? People?” He raised a brow “I swear Sovereignty; I rule the Fright Zone - for- you. What do you want from it?”

Glimmer seemed to be lost. She hadn’t thought about this. “Well… you won’t attack any other kingdoms.”

“That’s to be expected.” Hordak said, trying to keep his tone neutral. “Unless you go to war with another kingdom.”

“Oh!” Entrapta sat forward, her hands clenched, “There’s so much we could offer! There’s so much potential for processing, robotics, medical advances.” She hummed and looked upwards, “I can even see changing some of the Fright Zone’s combat and training programs for more civilian entertainment purposes!” 

“..Right.” Hordak said slowly, He didn’t know what she meant by the latter. “Regardless, the Fright zone does have a lot to offer. “ He considered this, “You’d want us to open up trade to the rest of Etheria, and Bright Moon would be given experimental and new technology ahead of the rest of Etheria as a tithe.” 

“What?”

Hordak sighed. “We’ll give you tech.” He’d have to write up the formal documents, he realized. Unless she had someone around to take her hand and lead her through this. Maybe Shadow Weaver could deal with this.

“Fine.” Glimmer huffed, “You get to go back to the Fright Zone, and build new tech for us.” 

“And I go with you!” Entrapta said, beaming. Hidden by her hair, she slipped her hand into Hordak’s, and gave him a light squeeze. 

Glimmer smirked, “Yes. Entrapta gets to go with you. Dryl’s position as Horde territory will be formalized.”

“It likely won’t be called Horde territory when this is all done.” Hordak said, “It’ll be… something different then.”

“Whatever it is, It’ll remain, ruled by you, with Dryl formally ruled by you. Since you’ll be marrying Entrapta.” 

Hordak’s ears pinned back. She didn’t seem to like the idea of them together, why was she smirking when she knew - to his dismay- that he was entirely in love with her? Unless…. Of course. It was a test. They were effectively trying to play chicken with them, trying to test them to see how far they would go. 

Hordak looked at Entrapta. She seemed happy enough by this.She wasn’t surprised so this was clearly something they had discussed. Maybe it was a test for Entrapta first, and now they were testing to see if he would agree to it. 

“I find your parameters acceptable.” He said finally, squeezing Entrapta’s hand back. “Write up the paperwork- I’ll sign whatever you want.”


	12. Morgana

Glimmer teleported into their room with the last box of supplies taken from the carrier they were brought to BrightMoon in. “There.” She snapped, “This one was a little lighter. I’m assuming this is the one that has your clothes and such.” 

“Nope.” Entrapta said as she opened it up, revealing a collection of seat padding and empty bottles. “Just lighter stuff. I was sent to beast Island without any planning, so I didn’t bring a change of clothes.” 

Hordak opened a box with tools in it and set them on one of the tables that bow found for their room. Before he started working, he liked his workspace to be just so, with everything in just the right place. He’d need his own data pad, a computer, some soldering supplies… He went over a list in his head of things that he would likely need. He’d get the common stuff first, then request anything else he’d need as he needed it. But would BrightMoon have everything he needed? They seemed to work more with magic, so just how technologically advanced were they, and how would he get the supplies he needed if they didn’t have it. 

“Hordak?” It was Entrapta. He turned around to face her, seeing Glimmer standing by the door with her hands on her hips, he foot tapping angrily.

  
“You didn’t bring any clothes, did you?” Entrapta asked. 

Hordak frowned and shook his head, “I am unconcerned about the state of my wardrobe, so long as it’s functional.” He said. A slight lie - he liked to be well presented when possible, but it wasn’t a concern right now. 

Glimmer seemed annoyed for a moment, then, to his surprise, gave a sinister smile. “Oh, we can’t have that.” She said, “Don’t you worry. I’m going to have the royal seamstress make you new things. If you’re wandering around Brightmoon as our… Supervised guests, then we can’t have you wandering around in rags.” 

“As you wish.” He said, and went back to his tools. Glimmer was very transparent, and he realized that she’d probably ask the seamstress to put him in something stupid looking. However, if he was scary, and used a firm tone, he was sure he could get them to just make a copy of what he was wearing. They’d probably not want to get close enough to him to measure him anyway. 

“Oh, if we’re getting new stuff, I could use a computer that’s got a bit more processing power than my data pad.” Entrapta said as her hair wove around setting up her own workstation. “OH, there’s some supplies I could use-” 

“Bow will help you with that.” She said. “Take your time. Shadowweaver is almost done the bracelets. So take your time, set up your lab. I’ll have the seamstress sent up right away.”    
  
She smirked, and teleported away. Hordak turned to Entrapta who was sorting out some scraps. 

“Did that … almost sound like a threat.” He asked her. 

“Hmmm?” She turned away from something she was examining, and looked to Hordak, lost in her thoughts for a moment, “Oh, Yeah. I don’t think Glimmer likes you.” she paused as she started digging through a box for something, “In fact, when she and Adora came to talk to me this morning, they were basically grilling me on why I was with you.” 

Hordak’s heart skipped, and his ears pinned back. He had been worried on and off about their little conversation that morning. “Is that so?” he said, keeping his tone neutral, “What did they say?”

“You ever hear of Prisoners love?”

Hordak raised a brow, “No…?”

“Ah, it’s this thing where, if someone is held prisoner, they start to fall for their captor. It’s more complicated than that, but that’s the gist of it.” She found what she was looking for in the box, giving a cry of joy as she pulled out what looked like an old hydraulic, “They basically implied that’s why I love you, but I wasn’t a prisoner in the fright zone.. Well, I mean, I was technically at first, but that was with Catra and Scorpia, I didn’t even see you back then, and we never really spent time together until we became lab partners!” She beamed, “So I told them that was impossible.” 

“But Glimmer suggested marriage..?”

“I think she was trying to prove a point, and it backfired on her.” She grinned, “But now we can have a party when this is all over! With tiny cakes.” 

Hordak wasn’t familiar with marriage ceremonies on this planet, but if Entrapta wanted tiny cakes, she’d have tiny cakes.

\-------

About an hour later, the door opened. There was no knock, it just slammed opened as a person stormed in. She was a larger, spider like woman with two spider legs and spider arms on a thorax, an  abdomen that stuck out behind her, and a narrow spider- head with eight almost human shaped, black eyes. She wore a shimmering black dress that seemed draped over her body like liquid. 

She stormed in, and looked at them both. “Well.” she said, “This will be fun.” 

“Excuse you?” Hordak hissed. He recognized her race immediately “You’re Arachian. Your people are under Horde control. Why are you here?”

She gave a noise, a rattling like noise that sounded clearly like derision. “BrightMoon is my homeland.” She said, “My Grandmother came here to be a seamstress. Then my mother served here after she died, and now I’m serving here. I have no allegiance but my art, and BrightMoon is the best place for me to work.” She looked at the tatters that Hordak was wearing, and snorted, “Good thing I’m not sewing for the Horde. Imagine how awful it would be to sew the same uniform over and over, no creative license. Your seamstresses must bored to tears. “

Hordak knew he was being insulted. He wasn’t exactly sure what the insult was, but he knew the tone. “We don’t have seamstresses in the Horde.” He snapped, “Our tech fabricates what we need.” 

“Well, that explains a lot.” She snorted. She turned to Entrapta. “You.” She pointed one arm at her, and whipped out from a pocket in her dress a measuring tape, and a notebook, “Out of your clothes. I’m taking your measurements.”

Entrapta sighed, lowered herself to the floor, and started changing out of her clothes. “I hate having measurements taken.” She muttered.

Hordak went back to his work. He was busy compiling the information he had on hand from Entrapta’s data-pad about portals. He needed to stop Prime from opening a portal again, and he was hoping he could come up with a signal to block it, at least for a short time. He was only half paying attention due to the conversation behind him. 

once she was down to her underwear, standing in front of the seamstress, arms out, she said, “I’m Entrapta, by the-“

“I Know. Glimmer told me that Princess Entrapta and Hordak needed a new wardrobe suitable for residing in Brightmoon.” She quickly started wrapping a measuring tape around Entrapta, taking notes as she did.

“Well. What’s your name”

“Morgana.” He said, not looking up from her work, and clearly not interested in making conversation. 

“... I’ve not had my measurements taken for something since I was a little girl.” Entrapta said, trying to make conversation, “I normally just wear my coveralls because they’re better for moving around and experiments.” 

“I see.” 

“And I don’t really wear dresses a lot, because I swing around a lot on my hair, and dresses can be-”   
  


“A little awkward for that.” She muttered as she wrote something down. “Yes, I suppose you haven’t have something properly made for you in ages.” SHe glanced at the clothes on the floor, “That was made by the tailor in Dryl.” She sniffed, “Decent enough work for durability, neat stitching, and the colors at least don’t clash. But uninteresting.” 

“I liked it.” Entrapta said, a hint of sadness inching into her voice. 

“Oh, I don’t mean to disparage his work.” She said quickly, “But dear,” she let a little grin flickered over her face, “I’m the best. It’s my job to see every flaw in a piece. Even my own.” 

“It has to be perfect?” Entrapta asked

“Oh my dear, nothing is ever perfect. But every piece I make is a little better than the last.” 

Morgana finished taking Entrapta's measurements, and stood upright. “Alright, you’re all done.” She said, and gestured to the pile of clothes Entrapta had left on the floor, “You can get dressed now.” She turned her look to Hordak, "Ok, Now you. Get over here." 

"I'm certain you can create a pattern from my current garments." He responded stiffly. 

Her look was icy, eight eyes narrowed at him, and her feelers twitched. "I'll do no such thing. I refuse to use someone else's work as a base for my own. ESPECIALLY work that seems rather amateur and mass produced. " She looked Hordak up and down, and sniffed. "Over here. Strip down to your underwear so I can take a measurement." 

Hordak felt his ears flick back, "No." He hissed. 

She looked at him, "What you're gonna be a baby about it? Your little princess girlfriend didn't have a problem." 

"Hordak Doesn't wear underwear ." Entrapta cut in. She gave him a slight, apologetic look. “They not really a .. thing for his race.” 

The seamstress was unphased "Well then get over here and strip down to your skin, I'm sure you don't have anything I've not seen before." She stopped, and looked Hordak up and down. "Actually, you might. But I assure you, I don't care. I just care about getting your measurements, and doing my job." She walked towards him, wielding her measuring tape, “I’ve worked on almost every race on this planet, I doubt you’ll shock me.” 

Hordak frowned, but found himself taking a step back as she approached him. 

“We’ll be doing this regardless.” She said, irritation flickering across her face, “I’m sorry if the great  _ Lord _ Hordak is too shy to have his measurements taken for proper clothing, but I’ll not have you throw another sack over yourself and call it clothing while keeping you properly dressed is now part of  _ my _ job.”

Hordak growled, turned around, hesitated for a moment, then with his ears flicked back, he hissed “Entrapta, will you help me with my armature.” 

Entrapta swung over to him, and started unplugging the ports that connected his armature to his body. Giving him a gentle pat on the shoulder as she did. 

“Am I to assume you’ll be wearing this… thing all the time?”

“I’m hoping to have his armor properly fixed sooner than later.” Entrapta said as she worked. She pulled a box out from under a table, and set it in the middle of a room, “It needs a new power source, but it looks a lot better than this. THIS was made on Beast Island with very limited resources.”

Morgana glanced into the box, sniffed, and looked away. “I see.” 

The armature came off. Hordak frowned, feeling his ears burn blue as he pulled his robe off and set it on the table. Trying not to seem too hesitant, he turned, and stood in front of Morgana, who looked him up and down. 

“I see.” She muttered, “No wonder you wear a dress.” 

  
“Excuse you?”

She held her measuring tape up and started taking notes, “Your hips are comparatively longer on you than on the average humanoid.” She muttered as she worked, “and your chest is shorter, but wider. I imagine you’d look like an ice-cream cone if you wore fitted pants. Raise your arms?” 

Frowning, Hordak raised his arms, “Yes, and you’ve got wider hips compared to your waist. Not feminine, but not masculine - just different. No, I can see pants on you being properly funny looking and uncomfortable. Shame. I was thinking of a nice suit.” She whipped the measuring tape around his leg, snapping it against his skin before pulling it tight against his thigh to take a measurement. Hordak barely suppressed a yelp of surprise, then pulled away from her and growled. 

To his surprise, she growled back at him. A look of slight surprise overtook his face, “What, you’re trying to scare me?” She gave a dull chuckle, “Son, from what I’ve been told, you’re in negotiations with Queen Glimmer. I doubt that killing me will help whatever bartering position you might have. As such- “ She not too gently tightened her measuring tape against this thigh, “I’ll not let your tantrum get in the way of my work.” 

Hordak stood upright, trying to look regal, “I do not throw tantrums.” 

“He doesn’t get into a tizzy either.” Entrapta said. 

_ Not helping _ , Hordak thought. 

She finally finished taking her measurements, taking measurements of his chest, shoulders, and neck before she snapped up her measuring tape and flicked her book closed. “I have what I need.” she sniffed. “I’ll have some basics for you by the end of the day.” She turned to leave. 

“Don’t you .. want to get ideas for what we’d like-” 

She turned, and look from Entrapta, to Hordak as he threw his robe on over him head. “Trust me.” She snapped, “You’ll like what I make.” 

And then she was gone. 

“Well.” Entrapta said, “I guess that was the threat in Glimmer’s voice.” Entrapta said with a slight grin. “Could have been worse.” 

“Don’t say that,” Hordak said with a groan, “We don’t know what she’s making us yet.” 

\---------

They finally had their lab properly set up as the sun set. Entrapta was getting ready to sleep, exhausted from limited sleep the night before. Hordak intended to work through the night. Bow had brought them the computers they needed, and Hordak was running some quick tests regarding some signals he thought might block a portal from opening. 

A knock on the door. At least it wasn’t Morgana. Hordak strode over to open the door this time as Entrapta was on the bed, brushing out her hair. It was bow, with a large box in his arms.

“Hello.” He said, struggling with the box He stepped into the room without invitation. “I passed on your suggestion about finding a way to block the portal to Adora and Glimmer-”

“And I’m sure,” Hordal said dryly, “That they combined their formidable intelligence and came up with a previously untested idea that would do the job?”

“Uh… no.” Bow set the box down on the floor. “They suggested we go see Light Hope tomorrow.” 

Hordak frowned. He wanted to ask what kind of name Light Hope was, but instead he asked, “Who, exactly, is Light Hope.” 

“Uhh.. I think ‘What’ Is better? She’s an A.I who knows a lot. She knows about Mara, who sealed us off before, so she might have an idea as to how we can do it again.”

Hordak suppressed a grin. This, he was somewhat excited for. A.I’s were something he had worked on over the years, and enjoyed tinkering with them, enjoyed studying them. He’d enjoy putting this one through its paces if he could. 

“And .. the box?”

“Well, it’s some stuff Entrapta asked for, and Morgana stopped me on my way up, and told me to deliver this.” He caught the look that must have flickered over Hordak’s’ face. “Yeah, she can be a little intimidating sometimes.” 

“I didn’t find her to be intimidating.” Hordak snapped. 

“Well.. I do. She can be scary when she’s mad… but she does good work. “ he glanced around the room, “Anything else you need? I guess you’ll be sleeping soon-”   
  


“Entrapta will. I don’t require sleep as an Etherian does.” 

“... But you were sleeping this morning.” 

“An hour suffices for me. I will be working through the night.” 

“I wish I could do that.” Entrapta cut in, “I’d get SO much done. I tried once, but then I had a bad coffee and sugar crash.” She laughed at this. Hordak frowned. He hadn’t laughed when it happened. He honesty though she was very sick and needed medical help! How Etherians could ingest things that caused them pain was beyond him. 

“Well. We’ll be up early to see Light Hope as soon as possible.” 

“We’ll be leaving BrightMoon then?” Hordak asked 

“The bracelet will be done by the morning, and Glimmer is going to have a matching one. You won’t be able to go outside a certain range of her.” 

Bow bid Entrapta goodnight, nodded to Hordak, and left.

Entrapta went to the box, opened the lid and squealed. 

“What?” Hordak said, feeling his ears twitch. Her squeal didn’t hurt, but they weren’t always easy on his ears. 

Entrapta lifted a first ones crystal from the box. It was bigger than the one that had been in his armor, and of course had no writing on it, but it was a crystal. “I asked Bow if he had one, and said it was vital to my research.” She pulled the box holding the pieces of Hordak’s armor over to her, and pulled out the pieces, “It won’t be perfect, it might glitch a bit more, but it’s better than what we have. I’ll fix this up before I sleep - It shouldn’t take too long.” She glanced back into the box, and smiled as she pulled out some wrapped bags with her hair. She deposited one that had his name written on it into his hands.

With some trepidation, Hordak opened the package. The clothing inside was a deep, cool purple color, with silver stitches on the edges, and silver dots in a light swoop under the high neck. It looked like his old clothes, but perhaps a little sleeker, and it felt a lot lighter. On the chest, where his old Horde insignia would have been was instead a black circle, ringed with silver thread. In the center was a red bat, flying upwards into the sky. 

A note fell from the fabric. 

_ More clothes to come. Glimmer wanted the both of you to have a full wardrobe, and I intend to deliver. She also wanted me to make you some hideous rose-colored thing, but I don’t compromise my work for tantrum-throwing lords, OR spitey young queens. Be grateful for that. The Insignia is a red bat flying across a new moon. You won’t be wearing Horde symbols here, but I figured this would suit you. -Morgana.  _

Behind him, Entrapta squealed. He turned, and she was holding new set of coveralls, the same warm purple that she had worn before, but with more pockets, and less extra length in the leg, so she didn’t have to roll them up so much,

“They feel so light, but they feel super durable!” She gave them a pull. Yup! Oh, and the thighs are reinforced, so they won’t wear so easily!” She beamed, “She’s good.” 

Hordak looked at the note, and the new robe with it’s painstakingly stitched insignia on the front. 

“Yes.” He admitted grudgingly, “I think she is.” 

  
  



	13. Chilacian

Hordak did not like the Whispering Woods. In fact, entering the Whispering Woods filled with him dread. If asked, he’d never say he was afraid of the too large insects, the wild beasts, the noises that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere to confuse his sensitive ears and disorient him, and it’s general chaotic nature. Those things were bad enough, but he could face them. Individually. At full health, and perhaps with a weapon. 

But facing all these things when one had newly crashed on a strange, alien planet, reeling from abandonment, injured, confused, and scared, was a little more than he could take. This was where he had landed when he ended up on Etheria and to this day, entering the Whispering woods made him feel anxious and nauseated. 

He’d never say that having Entrapta at his side, a teleporting queen, an overpowered magical princess, and a competent archer made him feel a lot better. At least, he’d never say it aloud. He also felt better having his armor on again, mostly repaired with the gem Entrapta had gotten from Bow, and though it didn’t really make a difference, the new tunic that Morgana had made for him, clinging to his chest comfortably and draping around his legs with a certain billowing flow. This with the the slight colour change that Entrapta had made to his armor made it so that he cut a very imposing figure. 

But there were some things he could do without. 

“Aww yeah, bringing friends to Light Hope!” It was that damned horse, Swift Wind. Hordak really he would have called him “running mouth” because that horse did. Not. Shut. Up. 

He landed as they entered deeper into the woods, and trotted along next to Hordak, who tried to ignore him. 

Swift Wind was not having it. 

“So I have questions.” He demanded, staring at Hordak. 

“I’m sure you do.” He replied, deadpan. He wondered if he could kill the horse. Probably not, Adora seemed to be fond of him for some reason. 

“Why do you have holes in your arms.” He demanded. Wordlessly, Hordak raised his arm, and rotated his hand 360 degrees from the elbow, causing Swift Wind to recoil in disgust. “Uuugh! That’s awful!” 

“That’s evolution.” He said as he dropped his hands. 

“Ok.” Swift wind gave him a suspicious look, “Why is your mouth red.” 

“So is yours.”    
  


“Why does your mouth glow? And your eyes?”

“My sparkling personality.” He snapped. The others stopped and stared at him. He sighed, “Bioluminescence.” The horse looked at him blankly as they started walking again. “My blood glows.” He frowned at Swift Wind, “How can you talk.” 

“Adora pointed her sword at me and I grew wings and started talking.” 

“.... Of course you did.” He wasn’t entirely sure that the horse wasn’t making it up. He decided he didn’t really want to know. 

He suddenly heard something. Something low, buzzing behind them. He turned quickly,, his claws flexed, his body tensed as his ears flicked, trying to listen. 

“Ooh, his ears are doin-”   
  


“Silence.” Hordak snapped. He listened. His ears twitched. After a few minutes he stopped and turned back to the others, releasing a breath he hadn’t noticed he was holding. 

“What is it.” Adora asked, her hand on the hilt of her sword.

“Nothing.” Hordak said, frowning, “I thought I heard something.” 

“Probably.” It was Glimmer, with a careless, easy tone to her voice, “There’s lots of things in the whispering woods, and most of them make noises. Hordak frowned and ignored her. Whatever it was, it had seemed familiar to him for a brief moment, but without hearing it again he didn’t think he could place it. 

There were wasps in the Whispering Woods. Big ones. They’d swarm and chase you for miles. He hoped it wasn’t them. 

  
  


They continued walking. Swift Wind continued trotting next to Hordak, “So, what were you doing with your ears?” 

“We’re here.” 

Hordak was grateful for the disruption. He looked ahead, and saw a clearing, centered around a large, towering structure made of crystal. 

Entrapta rose up on her hair. She had that look in her eyes that said she really wanted to poke at this, “I’ve SEEN THIS.” She exclaimed. “Catra said there’s enough First One’s tech in there to create an army of robots FOREVER!” 

“That will be useful.” Hordak said. Adora turned to them both, “You -can’t- steal anything from inside!” she said quickly, “The castle will attack you if you do.” 

“I’m sure I could work around that! Oh please Adora! Just a few pieces?”

“No! We need Light Hope.” 

_ For now,  _ Hordak thought to himself. One day he’d see Entrapta with all the tech she wanted and if that meant she needed this place, he’d get it for her. 

Eventually. 

  
“Just... Don’t touch anything.” She said, clearly nervous. 

“Very well.” Hordak said, keeping his tone almost bored. To be truthful, he’d be very happy to just be inside a civilized building and out of the forest. He thought he heard something behind him, and the musky smell of the damp detritus was getting to him. “Let’s get this over with and see this ‘Light Hope.’ I’m interested in examining a First Ones A.I.”

\---------------

They entered a large antechamber which seemed empty to Hordak until a hologram flickered to life. He managed to suppress his surprise, not just that the hologram appeared at all, but that it was taller than he was. The hologram was of was a tall, angular woman in strange looking clothing. 

Light Hope, he assumed. 

“Welcome back Adora.” She said, her voice monotone. She looked to each of them, causing Hordak to look around for some kind of sensors. Clearly, the hologram wasn’t seeing them. “You have brought friends?”

“Don’t attack them.” Adora said quickly, “We have some questions, and…” she looked back at Hordak and Entrapta, “And honestly, they know what to ask.”

The Hologram’s eyes lingered on Entrapta and Hordak. Entrapta Lifted herself up to Lighthope’s face, “Hello! I’m Entrapta!” She looked closely at Light Hope, who wasn’t reacting to her, “Ohhh, Hordak, she looked really solid!~” She carefully poked her, her finger going through the hologram’s face. “Oh, where are you projected from!”

“Light Hope, can you Acknowledge everyone in the room right now?”

Light Hope turned to Entrapta. “Hello, Entrapta.” She said. 

“Ah. Where are you projecting from?” She asked again. 

“The crystals that form this tower allow me to project where needed.” 

“Ohh, and what kind of neural interface do you have?” 

“I do not have information on that.” 

“Aww.” Entrapta lowered herself down towards the floor, sitting cross-legged on her hair, “I hate it when an A.I doesn’t have it’s specs available.” 

“I know you’re excited, Entrapta.” Adora said, “But we have limited time, and we have to figure out how to stop portals opening again.”

“Mara stopped portals opening a thousand years ago.” The Hologram stated, “Her protection should still be working.”    
  


“It’s not.” Hordak said, “A portal was opened, and destroyed, but that was enough to get a signal out into the universe. “ He took a step forward, “That singal drew someone very powerful here, and he has all the technology he could ever need to open more portals, and bring an unimaginable army to your skies.” 

The hologram looked at Hordak for a long moment, then did something very strange. Her ears grew until they looked similar to Hordak’s. Then she spoke. 

<< You are a long way from home, Chilacian.>> Her ears twitched - amusement, confusion. 

Hordak was properly taken aback. This thing, this hologram, was speaking his native tongue- a language he had almost given up hope of hearing properly again. Not only that, she was supplementing her words, the strange, lilting tone, the mechanical clicking from the back of her throat, with the movement of her ears, creating what Etherians would have considered to be a tone. The others stared at Light Hope, confused

<<I am a clone.>> Hordak said, ears emoting - confusion- <<I’m impressed that you know this language,>> - flattered, impressed- << but I think you may have messed up a word.>> - understanding, question- <<Chilacian isn’t a word. Did you mean Clone?>>

<<Interesting.>> -Curiousity- <<Shi-dak has omitted his history.>> -condescension- 

“Can you two stop?” Entrapta cried out, “I want to know what’s going on!” 

“She- It’s speaking my native tongue.” Hordak explained. “But not well.”

“Why did she grow ears?” Bow asked. Hordak glanced over at him, hesitated for just a moment, then said, “There’s subtle movements to my species ear movements that denote tone. Without that, the language is deadpan, and sometimes a lot can be lost in comprehension.” 

Entrapta gasped, “Is -that- why you wouldn’t teach me ?”

“Well… that can you physically can’t make half the noises you need to in order to speak it properly.”

Adora turned to Light Hope, confusion painting her face, “Wait.. How do you know Hordak’s language?”

“The planet hasn’t always been cut off from the rest of the universe. There was a time when the First Ones were connected to the cosmos, and collected knowledge, culture, and technology. Though this information is normally unnecessary, I possess a great library of information on the various species that inhabit the universe. The one you refer to as “Hordak.” is a member of the Chilacian race. Or rather, a clone of the race. 

Entrapta looked to Hordak, “You never told me you were Chilacian.” She said. “What’s Chilacian.” 

Before Hordak could answer anything, Light Hope answered, “A race of bipedal winged humanoids originating from a galaxy in the eastern part of the universe. “

Bow looked at Hordak, “You don’t have wings.” 

“Clearly.” He snapped, “None of the clones do.” 

“Unique among their species is their multifaceted language, triple vocal-cord setup, and chemical monogamy.”   
  


“Wait, what?” 

Entrapta and Bow asked that at the same time. Hordak was very glad that he managed to restrain himself from echoing them. 

Light Hope, with the same tone and intonation, repeated herself, “Unique among their species is their multifaceted lang-”

“No no, the Last one!” Entrapta said, “Chemical monogamy??”

“This is really not a discussion for here.” Hordak said, his ears tilting down, burning. He wanted to know what that meant as well, but he didn’t need it discussed here. Maybe he could come back on his own?

Light Hope turned to Entrapta, “The Chilacian race has an intricate form of mating. Hormonal effects are activated by a deep emotional bond, then triggered by the mate’s hormonal cycle though scent and touch. During a first mating, a chemical bond is created, and afterwards, this process cannot be repeated.” She finished her speech, then looked to Hordak, “Oh. my apologies.” 

Great, this A.I had an answer queue. This, however, answered a lot of questions. None of which he wanted answered in such a public setting. He’d have to have a conversation with Entrapta later. 

“Wait. Can’t be repeated?” Entrapta asked. “You mean it only happens once? In total? Forever?”

“Correct. This happens once in a Chilacians life cycle.” 

Hordak was sure he could hear Bow mutter, “That’s so romantic.” 

“Very good!” Hordak interrupted. Most people didn’t pay attention to what his ears were doing, but he was positive that they were an obvious brilliant blue, and obviously flat, parallel to the ground. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as he thought, but he wasn’t sure, “If you’re so well informed, you’ll know more about Prime then, right?”

“Who is Prime?”

“The person from whom I am cloned.” Hordak snapped. Of course she could tell all about his personal details, but she didn’t know this vital information, “The Emperor of the known Universe The true leader of the Horde Army.” 

“I have been cut off from the universe for a thousand years.” Light Hope responded, “But I do know of the creation of the Horde Army. Would this be useful information?” 

“Yes.” Adora said, finally getting over the shock of the previous conversation, “Yes. What can you tell us about the Horde Army. The real one.” 

“I can tell you much. Would you like to access the files on the Fall of the Chilacian race, and the Rise of the Horde Army?”

“Yes.” 


	14. Decanoids

Page 1:

The Bat-like Chilacians and the aquatic Decanoids had been at war for as long as either race could remember.

Their constant fighting had pushed both races in terms of scientific discovery and technological advancements. 

This should have sparked a golden age for the entire universe. 

Page 2:

With their advanced technology, they not only. developed weapons, but used genetic splicing and Bio-modifications to improve their innate abilities. 

Their desire to possess one another’s planet kept them from resorting to large scale destruction, which prolonged this bloody cosmic battle.

And thus the atrocities piled, and they surpassed their own imaginations for cruelty and death. 

Page 3:

Ultimately, it was the decanoids who came up with a solution to their “problem”

  
  


A deadly virus. 

Attuned to Chilacian DNA

Designed to spread Asymptomatically like wildfire before activating, triggering sudden multi-organ failure. 

Page 4:

Over a series of months, the Decanoids targeted the ten largest Chilacian cities with low-impact missiles, carrying the tiny bug-like drones that would bite their targets, infecting them with the virus that would remain dormant for two years. 

Page 5: 

It was a normal day when the virus finally triggered and too effect. 

All at once, the Chilacians fell sick, their bodies falling apart, blood pouring out of every orifice. In the confusion and terror that followed, Most were left to die. Those who could. Help treat the ailing were themselves suffering as their insides melted, and fever destroyed their minds. 

Page 6: 

The virus was a near total success. People either died of the immediate effects of the sickness, or starved, writhing with madness as their brains were destroyed by fever. Only one Chilacian survived. One who, due to a strange genetic mutation. At birth, was left with no wings and atypical DNA that the virus did not recognize.

Page 7: 

With the Chilacians essentially extinct, the Decanoids descended upon their planet, setting up their own colony and stripping the land of its resources. 

The last chilacian managed to escape to an underground labratory. 

Sorrow. 

Loss. 

Hopelessness. 

These things should have killed the poor, sad creature. 

But one thing rose above these feelings. 

Rage. 

Page 8:

using his brilland mind, and the extraordinary lab left by his fallen race, he grew an army of clones. 

Creating an army of cones took many years. Those years he spent alone, with nothing but the dark feelings in his heart. Chilacians aren’t meant to be alone. His people gone, his life-mate dead, his mind spiraled into darkness, leaving him an angry, cold, vengeful shell. 

Page 9:

And this, with his DNA as the prime model, he finished his horde of clone soldiers. 

Adorned with the bloodstained wings, a symbol of their lost people and culture they prepared to go to war. 

They prepared to take their Prime’s vengeance on the Decanoids, and take back a world they never knew, and to fight for a loss they couldn’t comprehend. 

Page 10:

The Decanoids had grown complacent in the years following the fall of the Chilacians. Their soldiers were outnumbered. Their defenses were poor. Their weaponry was subpar. 

They fell quickly, and surrendered in days. 

Page 11:

The leaders of the Decanoids were executed, followed by any resistance fighters. The remaining decanoids were forced into a new life as slaves for five generations for their crimes; a sentence they continue to live out to this day. 

Page 12: 

His race reborn, and the Decanoids subdued, the Prime Chilacian hoped that the emptiness inside would be likewise defeated. 

But he just felt numb

He may not be able to fix his own sorrows, but he could stop them for the rest of the universe. 

He would conquer the universe. 

Though any means necessary. 

And enforce his own peace, no matter the cost. 


	15. Drones

Hordak felt like he was going to be sick. 

Light Hope was still finishing up her story - his story- but Hordak felt dizzy, sick and needed to get away from the swirling lights that accompanied the story of the Chilacians. 

It wasn’t just the story though. The story was bad enough, it was too much he didn’t know, too much new information, too many questions. But chemical monogamy? He’d go through this once in his life, and with one person? He was bonded to Entrapta. He had committed his entire life - according to Light Hope- to her without even realizing what he was doing. 

“What if she doesn’t want to go with you.” 

Entrapta could change her mind. If she did, would he still be in love with her for the rest of his life? He remembered the few days when she had been gone, when he thought that she had betrayed him. The days of crushing loneliness, his head spinning and unfocused, Would that be his entire life if she changed her mind?

There was a tug on his arm. He looked, thinking at first it was Entrapta, holding his arm, but it was his bracelet - the one that Shadow Weaver had designed for Glimmer to keep tabs on him. He couldn’t move beyond a certain distance of Glimmer, so he was stuck in an empty hallway, his mind racing, spinning, his stomach feeling like it was ripping itself apart. 

He sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall. He was breathing too hard- he felt dizzy. Decanoids. Chilacian. He had a race, a people, a home he never knew. Or was it his home? Was it his people? He had never known them. Could he claim an attachment to a culture, and a race he knew nothing about. All he knew was Prime, was being a clone. 

He couldn’t focus. His mind was jumping from one thing to the next, not letting him think on anything for too long  
.  
This was all too much. He pulled his knees up to his chest, and rested his head, trying to will the dizziness away. He tried to slow his breathing, making each breath just a little longer than the last. 

He heard footsteps. He looked up, hoping for Entrapta, but it was Bow. Hordak looked back to the wall ahead of him, focusing on his breathing. He did not need this. He did not need this now. 

Bow didn’t say a word. He knelt down, took out a bottle of water, and held it out for him. Hordak shook his head, and Bow set the bottle down next to him before standing up. 

“Entrapta started asking questions.” Bow said as a means of explanation. “She was going to come check on you, but Glimmer asked me to instead, so Entrapta could get the information she needed.”

Hordak nodded, his movements were quick and jerky. and he didn’t like it. 

Bow was quiet for a moment, then said, “So… what do you think of Light Hope as an A.I?”

Hordak could only laugh. He gave a long, strained, slightly manic laugh which left him disconcerted.

“She has no tact.” He finally said as he composed himself.

“Yeah. Adora said the same thing. I don’t think she’s had a lot of interaction with real intelligence.” Bow was rambling, clearly unsure what to say, “Adora said that Light Hope assumed she’d know information from when she was a baby, and apparently has a real creepy smile.”

“It’s a glorified search engine.” He snapped. 

“Are you…” Bow looked over Hordak, his brows knit together in concern. “Are you going to be ok.” 

“Yes.” 

“Are you sure?”

He wasn’t. Hordak wasn’t sure of anything in this moment. He didn’t know why he was reacting like this. He needed to examine the information, get it all organized in his head, and sort out what to do with that knowledge, but he felt like he’d been tossed into a bucket and shaken up. He wanted quiet. He wanted to be alone. He wished he could just be in a quiet, dark room and be allowed to stare at nothing for a few hours - a strange desire for him, he normally hated the idea for being idle for any amount of time.

At least the urge to vomit was gone.

Bow set something down next to the water bottle. It was a small disc. 

“I asked Light Hope if there was a way to make a copy of her records of the Chilacians.” He said, “She gave me this… I figured you’d prefer to look it over when we’re back at Bright Moon.” 

Hordak looked at the disc, the water, then up at Bow. After a moment, he finally asked, “Why.” 

“Why what?”

“Why did you do that. Why are you doing this?”

Bow looked confused, “Because Glimmer asked me to check up on you?”

“No.. the disc. She didn’t ask you to do that.”

“Well, no. But I figured if I were in your shoes… I’d want to be able to look over this information privately.”

“Why would you care what I want?”

“Because… because that’s who I am? I also.. I mean, that was a lot to deal with back there. Even for me.” 

Hordak didn’t respond.He didn’t want or need Bow’s pity. Was it pity? It felt like pity. 

Bow turned to leave, “I’ll… let you be then.” He said. 

“Tell Entrapta I just needed to get away from the display Light Hope was projecting.” Hordak knew she wouldn’t believe that, but he’d talk to her later if need be.He wondered if she had considered the implications of his ‘chemical monogamy’

“Sure…” Bow said slowly. His footsteps started to recede away from him. 

Hordak glanced down at the disc. His entire history, the history of his race, where they came from, what they were, what he was supposed to be without the influence of Prime, and his cloning. Was it worth looking at when that race was gone now?

He reached out, took a water bottle, and had a long drink of water. His stomach felt better, he felt less dizzy, and his breathing was almost normal. Now he was just confused as to what just happened to him. 

No matter. It seemed like it was over. He could worry if it happened again. Perhaps it was just too much information at once. 

He took the disc, and slipped it into one of the very cleverly hidden pockets that were stitched into his robes. He didn’t know if this information would make a different to anything, but to pass up on the chance to learn seemed wasteful to him. 

Another moment passed. He stood up, and made his way back to Light Hope. 

\--------

Hordak expected Glimmer at least to question him when he returned, but she didn’t. She hardly seemed to notice he had returned. She was watching Adora, who had turned into She-Ra. Her sword was out, and being charged some some strange beams that came from the walls. 

Entrapta noticed that Hordak was there. She slid over to him, and wrapped a tendril of hair around his wrist. “Light Hope does have some information on how to block the portals!” she said, excited, “It’s so simple, I’m sure we would have thought of it with just a little more time! If She-ra unleashes the right energy at one of the poles of the planet, it’ll affect the planet's magnetic field just enough to warp any portals that anyone attempts to open. It’s an easy work-around, honestly, but given that you opened the portal, and Prime opened a portal here, he’s going to be confused as to why the portals aren’t working now. He’ll probably spend most of his time poking at his own equipment before he thinks to check the planet's magnetism.” She gave a gleeful cackle, “Honestly, that’d be the -last- thing I would check. A planet doesn’t just change it’s magnetic flow on a whim!“

“And once that’s done.” Hordak said, his mind slowly seeming to pick up speed again, “We can go back to the Fright Zone.” 

Entrapta looked at him, confused, “Why would we do that?”

“You’re not going back anywhere.” Glimmer said, glaring at him. 

“Not actually go back.” Hordak said, suppressing a growl, “Go back to perform some sabotage. Steal some supplies, break some power sources. Give him more to deal with before he can actually start tinkering with the portal.”

Glimmer looked like she was going to object again, but she considered this, “I suppose you do know the Fright Zone better than anyone.” She said softly, “We’d be able to get a lot done in there.”

“Entrapta probably knows it better than I do at this point.” Hordak admitted, “But I have a master code for everything. Between the two of us, we can get in, break the power sources-”

“And do you have any idea what to do about Prime yet? And the army of clones?”

Hordak frowned, and looked aside. He did not. How does one take down a whole race of warrior clones?

It hit him suddenly. An idea he didn’t like, one that actually made him feel a little sick again, but it was so far the only idea he had. 

“Just… Just one.” He finally said. “I actually just came up with one.” 

Entrapta beamed at him, her hair puffing out, “Oooh, Sudden inspiration?”

“Something like that.” 

“So what’s the plan.” Glimmer demanded, her arms crossed as she glared at him. 

Hordak glanced up at Light Hope. “A virus.” he said, deadpan. “I haven’t figured out the logistics yet.. And we don’t have two years…” He was thinking as he spoke, the idea forming in his mind as he went along, “But if I can get some of my supplies from the Fright Zone while we’re there, some of my equipment… We may be able to synthesize something.”

“A Virus?” Bow asked, a hint of horror creeping into his voice. “Like what the Decanoids did? But that’ll kill them all.” 

“Wasn’t that always the plan?” Hordak asked. Bow was silent. So were the others. Hordak didn’t like this. He had been considering stopping the other clones, not killing them. Genocide hadn’t been something that Horde Prime had practiced. In fact, it had been an argument for his takeover of the universe- Other races, if ruled by one power, wouldn’t destroy one another. Hordak knew why he was like that now.”

Hordak also knew that they had few options. If the entire Horde Army wasn’t stopped, even if they killed Horde Prime here on Etheria, he’d return once his neural uplink had completed his transfer, and when he returned, he’d return with enough clones to ravage Etheria. There would be no warning, no fight. If they didn’t do this, if they didn’t manage to stop all the clones, all they were doing was buying some time- and probably not all that much time either.

It was time for Hordak, The Defect, to kill his family. 

\----------

They left Crystal Castle with a plan, a powered up sword that buzzed and hummed with a power even Hordak could feel, and a disc filled with information about a lost culture, and a soon to be extinct race. 

“We’ll plan a way into the Fright Zone when we get back to Bright Moon.” Hordak said as they left. “I’m led to believe that Shadow Weaver got you in last time?”

Glimmer nodded, “Yes, but she said that would only work once. She said you’d manage to figure out a way to stop this in the future.”

“I would have.” Hordak agreed, “But I didn’t know it was Shadow Weaver, and neither does prime.” He looked at Entrapta, a flicker of a grin on his face, “Catra told me, and told Prime that Entrapta let you in. If they look to secure anything after this, it’s going to be the primary security systems, the tech. Things that Entrapta would have had access to, not teleportation magic.”

“So…” Glimmer was letting this sink into her head, “So we still have a way to get inside.” 

Entrapta looked up at Hordak, “But wouldn’t Catra tell Horde Prime now? If she knows the truth-”

“To tell him now would be to admit to lying to him. That’s a bad idea with me. It’s suicide with him.”

“So even if she thinks it’s an issue, she can’t tell him.” 

“Right. And I doubt Catra has the intelligence to set up precautions against your magic on her own. If you can get right into my sanctum-”

“We tried that last time.” Bow said, “And it didn’t exactly work.”

“I can work around that.” Hordak said. He already had a few plans rolling in his head for sneaking into the Fright Zone.

“Ohh, I didn’t get to go last time!” it was that damned horse again. At least it had been quiet in the Crystal Castle. “Can I come this time? I can disguise myself as a robo-horse! I can-”

Hordak shushed him, and stood still tensed, his ears twitching. 

“What?” Glimmer asked as he put his hand out to hold her back. 

“I hear something.” 

It was the same noise he heard earlier. A dull buzzing hum, but this time it was much louder and after listening for a moment, he could place it. He cursed in his native tongue, and backed up. 

“Get back into the Castle.” He demanded. 

Entrapta backed up slowly, her hair surrounding her, “Hordak, what is it?”

“Drones.” he said. His eyes scanning the horizon, the shadows, the trees. Finally, he saw them. He didn’t thank his keen eyes for spotting them, they were coming out of the woods and towards them. Five sleek Horde drones, used for assessing a planet for its people, it’s resources, and to deal with any minor threats that might have come on it’s radar. They scanned the area, saw Hordak and the others, and scanned them too. He didn’t know if they recognized him as a clone, and ordinarily, they’d not have bothered with the civilian population of the planet so long as they weren’t attacked. 

But they had power sensors, and they definitely picked up on the power thrumming from the sword that Adora carried. 

All at once, a loud, pitched buzzing noise filled the air, causing them all to wince, and cover their ears. 

“What’s that!” Entrapta cried, her hands over her ears, her hair covering her hands. 

“A beacon.” Hordak yelled over the noise. “They’re calling for help - we’re identified as a threat.” 

From out of the woods, dozens of these sleek, shiny drones started to emerge, surrounding them.


	16. Supersonic

They got back into Crystal Castle just as the first laser was fired at them. Adora called out, “Light Hope, barricade the front door.” And a shimmering barrier covered the entrance

“Drones?” Glimmer snapped as she looked at Hordak. “Did you tell them that we’re here!” 

Hordak narrowed his eyes as he looked at her, “You put a truth spell on me.” He snapped, “Don’t you think if I was planning to do something like this, you’d have known by now?”

“Then how did they find us!” Her voice was getting shrill, and it hurt his ears, which he felt flick down protectively. 

“They’re not mine.” He said, “They’re Horde, but they’re not mine. They’re something Prime uses to examine a planet.” 

“What do you mean ‘examine a planet’?”

He watched as the drones surrounded the door. Some of them were guarding, waiting. The others were settling close to the ground, taking soil samples. “When he lands on a new planet, he sends out drones to take samples of the soil, water, fauna.. .anything that might be useful. They also detect potential risks, and report back.” He glanced at Adora. “That sword is pulsing with energy and power. I’m not even particularly sensitive to that, and I can feel it.” He gestured to the drones waiting outside, “They can feel it, and they think you’re a threat.” 

“So we just teleport out then.” Glimmer said. 

“We could.” Hordak said slowly, “but-”

“But they’re recording, aren’t they?” Entrapta asked. “They’re recording, and sending everything back to Prime.” She looked up at Hordak, her hair twisting with anxiety. “If he knows you’re here…” 

“If he finds out for certain that I’m here, we won’t have enough time to act before he tries to open the portal.”

“But… you don’t seem worried.” Entrapta’s hair twisted around her, “Does that mean they’re not recording?”

“They’re recording. But they’re not transmitting.” Hordak responded, grinning slightly - leave it to Entrapta to pick up on that. “If they get back to Prime, then he’ll know I’m here. We can’t let that happen.” 

Bow nocked an arrow, “So we have to destroy them all.” he said simply. 

“Right.” Hordak said. “They’ll have some defensive capabilities. Lasers. Our biggest issue is numbers”. He let his eyes scan the area. He could see two dozen right away. “The three of you have been dealing with my robots, and they’re made for combat…”

“We were working with the other princesses.” Glimmer said, frowning, “It was a team effort.” 

“These aren’t made for combat. Not like mine were.” He said, “But if we stay here much longer, they’ll leave, and bring their findings to Prime.” 

“What’s the plan sir.” 

In truth, Hordak was taken aback to being referred to as “Sir.” He glanced at Adora, knowing it was a slip, an old habit to refer to commanding officers. It hadn’t been called “sir” in decades, it had just recently been “Lord Hordak” as of late. 

But now, he was on the front lines, as it was, giving information, making plans. He was a commanding officer again. Being called “Sir” threw him back to a time when he was still involved in skirmishes like this. 

“I see at least two dozen drones in the immediate area. When they acknowledged that sword- and you- as a threat, they swarmed. Anything we’re going to have to deal with should be in the immediate area. They won’t be particularly strong, but a laser strike will hurt. They have tasers built in. We can brute-force them, destroying their machinery. We can shock them” he looked them over. His eyes lingered on Bow, “An arrow won’t do much though.” 

“Will taser arrows?”

Hordak grinned, “That might.” He said. He then looked at Glimmer, “You should stay back.” 

She pouted, “I will not!” She said. He was surprised that she didn’t stamp her foot, “I’m-”

“A queen.” he said. “What happens if you die.” 

She stopped, and stared at him. “If I die?”

“I don’t necessarily expect that we’ll lose anyone in this, but I didn’t survive as long as I did by taking unnecessary chances. If you die. You have no heir, no plan for succession I assume?” She shook her head, “Then what happens. Who takes your place? Do the other princesses fight for your throne?”

“I don’t think they would.”   
  


“But you don’t know what happens.” He growled, “That’s unwise.”

“Well I wouldn’t have to think about these things if my mother was still around!” 

“Glimmer…” Bow put a hand on her shoulder, “This isn’t the time. And I think he’s right.” 

Bow had a stupid name. He invited himself into Hordak’s personal space, and was far too excited about him and Entrapta. But he wasn’t stupid. He was well prepared, and knew how to handle Glimmer. 

Hordak didn’t hate him. 

Glimmer frowned, and stood back. “Fine.” She snapped, turning away. Hordak nodded. Adora drew her sword. Entrapta lowered her welding mask, and rose herself up on her hair. Hordak checked the gem on his armor, and then flexed his fingers, letting his sharp black claws protrude fully. 

“Alright.” He said, poised, and ready to spring. “On my count.” He said, “Forc- Adora, you go left with Bow. Entrapta and I will go right. If you see any drones trying to escape, they become priority.” 

Adora lifted her sword, said her words, and became the eight foot tall She-Ra. He nodded. They were ready. 

“Three.. Two…”

\-------

One

They sprang out together, each of them lunging left and right. Hordak leapt up, landed atop one drone as she smashed his hand into it and pulled out it’s electronics. As it started to fall to the ground, he grabbed it and threw it into the one nearest to him, knocking it out of the sky in a mad explosion. 

Below him, Entrapta had taken two down herself, and was ripping apart another with her powerful hair. 

Hordak took a moment to take a quick count. Counting the ones they had just destroyed, there were 28, no, two more rose from the ground, further around the side of the castle. 30. He glanced back at Bow and Adora. Bow’s arrows seemed to have an area of effect, a shock radius. He aimed for clusters of drones.. He had already taken down six of them. Adora was slower, but she had taken down three. 

As Entrapta tore the last on apart, he counted. 14 down. 16 to go. He called out his numbers as he landed on the ground, and grabbed another drone. He felt a jolt hit him from behind- a laser strike. He ripped the drone in half, then ran at the one that was shooting at him. He heard a cry from Entrapta. He turned, and saw the sleeve of her clothes burned, her arm red, but she wasn’t down - she was ripping apart another drone with her hair. 

Good. If this kept up, they’d be done this in no time. He’d scan the area, and make sure he didn’t miss any. 

A drone was zooming off into the trees. Hordak spotted the glint of it’s metal as it rushed past. He yelled out, “On it.” As he took off to get it. 

He was nearly at the drone when Glimmer poofed on top of it, then poofed away. 

Hordak gave a mixed growl of rage and frustration as he turned back and saw glimmer appear with the drone in front of the castle. Bow shot it - not an effective shot, it only took out one drone, then started saying something to Glimmer. 

Hordak was starting to run back to the castle, to throw her inside if he had to when he felt it. Entrapta had warned him that the armor wasn’t great. The gem she had wasn’t perfect for it, perhaps gave off a bit too much energy, and could cause greater malfunctions than before. A jolt went through him- making his limbs go weak. It was akin to being hit in the elbow and feeling your whole arm go numb, except it happened over his whole body. 

He fell to the ground with a shout. Three blasts caught him in the back. One struck his exposed lower back, and he felt the sudden pain hit him. He took a breath, and waited for his body to start responding properly again. He only needed another moment…

Glimmer popped next to him, then looked up at the Drone that was shooting at him. She poofed up, and grabbed it. It shifted under her, and she knelt to get better purchase. The moment the bare skin of her calve touched the drone, there was a crack of electricity as it’s taser actrivated. Glimmer fell down, unconscious and twitching. He heard Bow cry out, and saw him start running towards them. Adora was still trying to deal with drones, but now she was outnumbered, and flanked. Entrapta ran up, outpacing Bow, and getting to Hordak first. 

“Are you ok.” She asked. He nodded. 

“Minor malfunction.” He said. He looked up, cursing. More drones had risen out of the woods. Adora was getting shot at behind him. He cursed under his breath, and in his native language. Bow should have stayed with Adora. If they lost that sword their plan was ruined. Of course, Glimmer should have stayed in the castle. 

“We need to retreat.” he said. He reached down to pick up the unconscious Glimmer. 

He couldn’t lift her. 

He was confused for a moment, then he saw the problem. The damned bracelets that Shadow Weaver had designed. She had made it so that it amplified the relative weight of the person with the master bracelet, and she had designed it, apparently, so that if Hordak got it in his mind to just take Glimmer and go where he wanted to go, he couldn’t because he was trying to lift that relative weight. It was clever, but in the moment, it was very bad. He turned to Bow. 

“Can you lift her?” He asked.

Bow leaned down, but he couldn’t life her arm off the ground. “I can’t” He said confused. Hordak frowned. Bow was trying to lift glimmer, and Hordak’s own weight, along with his armor. He didn’t understand why he couldn’t lift her - but he was sure he’d managed to figure it out later. There was no time now. 

This was not good. They were now surrounded as during their attack they had been targeted as threats. The drones would try to eliminate them if they could, and if they didn’t act soon, one would go off again to deliver it’s information to Prime. They needed to end this, and they needed to end this now. He had an idea, but it wasn’t pleasant. 

He turned back, and yelled at Adora, “Get inside the Castle.” He ordered, “And cover your ears.” 

He was some distance away, but she heard him, and did what she was told. At least someone could follow orders. 

“You have an idea?” Entrapta asked. 

“Just one.” He said, 

“Will it work?”

“It will.” Hordak said slowly, “But I’m going to need help afterwards.” 

Entrapta looked at him. “There’s no time to explain.” He said, “I will later, I promise.” He looked at Bow. “Once all the drones are down, get Adora to heal Glimmer, and then get me to the transport.” He wanted to demand that she heal him too, so he’d recover from the damage he was about to do to himself, but he didn’t necessarily trust her magic, and he also knew that they were hesitant to heal him. 

Bow nodded. Hordak knelt down next to Glimmer, and covered her ears with his hands, “Cover your ears.” he said. 

They both hesitantly covered their ears. 

The drones were getting ready to attack. He could hear the noise of their machinery deepen as they charged their lasers. There was no more time. 

Hordak cleared his throat, and took a deep breath. 

It looked like he was screaming, but there was no sound. Any birds that were nearby suddenly took off into the sky, a cacophony of flapping and screeching before the noise faded off. Bow and Entrapta looked at him, confused. Bow moved his hands from his ears. 

“What are you… OH GOD!” He slapped his hands back to his ears and pressed tightly as the high pitched scream that was coming from Hordak’s throat started to hit a pitch that his human ears could hear. It started first as something that could have been considered just an odd ringing in the ears, which grew in volume, intensity, and pitch. 

Around them, the nearby trees made strange cracking noise, shaking with the vibrations of the scream. Some branches split, and fell to the ground before splintering. 

Three sets of vocal chords formed a terrible screech, a chorus of hellish, high pitched voices revibrating in the air. 

The data pad that Bow carried cracked.

The trunks of the nearby trees shivered, cracked, then split. 

Finally, the drones started to crack, their machinery shuddering at the noise until finally they fell to the ground, sparking with cracks in their shells. 

His scream continued to deepen, slowly getting to his normal pitch when it finally happened. His ears, for lack of a better word, tripped. If he had normal human eardrums, they’d have burst.

It felt like being thrown into water, the world around him faded away, all sounds around him faded off, muffled and distant. Even though he was still on the ground, he felt like he was thrown into a spirling fall, the world spinning around him. He lost his balance and fell to the ground, the world spinning and swirling before his eyes. He coughed, his throat aching from strain. He managed to lift himself slightly, coughed up some deep blue blood, and fell back onto his side, and then onto his back, staring up at the spinning sky.

Entrapta’s face was in front of him. He felt like they were caught in a whirlpool, spinning around and around as she looked like she was speaking to him, yelling at him. 

But of course he couldn’t hear her, not really. A dull, muffled sound managed to make its way into his skull, but aside from that all he could hear was the beating of his own heart. He coughed again, his throat feeling like he had just swallowed knives. He tried to say, “I'll be fine,” But if he was whispering or shouting, he could only guess. He didn’t even know if he could make any proper verbal noises at this point. 

He felt sick again, but at least this time it was because the world was spinning around him. He lay on the ground, and shut his eyes. He still felt like he was in a free fall, but at least this time he couldn’t see it. 

He let himself lay on the ground. He’d be useless for a while now, and he had to trust that others would follow his orders. 

He didn’t have high hopes. 


	17. Bond

The piercing screech that assulted their ears ended abruptly, with Hordak doubling over, couging violently before collapsing to the ground next to the unconsious Glimmer. Entrapta ran up to him as he managed to turn to his side, coughing up a glob of blue blood before he fell to his back. 

“Hordak!” Entrapta cried. Her hair twisting around him. He seemed like he tried to say something, his mouth moved, but all that came out was a ragged, coraking sound before he lay on the ground, his eyes closed. 

Bow staggered to Glimmer, his ears still ringing from whatever that was. He leaned down, and checked her vital signs. She was alive, but her own breathing was ragged, and she was twitching. He backed up from her only as Adora, still as She-Ra, ran up to her with her sword in hand. 

“What happened?!” She demanded, looking from Glimmer, then to Hordak who was being carefully held up to a sitting position by Entrapta and her hair. He had blood dripping down his chin, blue and shiny. 

“I don’t know.” Bow said, rubbing his ears. “He said you need to heal Glimmer, and then we need to get out of here.. But..” He looked around at the wreckage of broken drones and shattered trees around them, “I don’t think we need to be as quick as he made it sound.” 

Adora nodded, knelt, and brought her sword up before Glimmer. The sword glowed with a bright, warm power, and Glimmer’s eyes fluttered open. She sat up slowly at first, then looked around frantically, taking in the destruction, the drones, and then Hordak. 

“What happened to him.” She snapped.

Entrapta had never looked truly mad before, at least not around Glimmer. The look she gave her in that moment made Glimmer get quickly to her feet, and back up. 

“He did this to himself.” She hissed, holding his head to her chest. “He did this because of you.” 

“What do you mean.” Glimmer asked. Bow shook her head besides her. 

“You got tased by one of the drones.” Bow explained. “He couldn’t lift you to get you away because of the bracelet. Neither could I.So he… I don’t even know what he did.” Bow rubbed his ears again. 

“A sonic attack of some kind.” Entrapta said, anger still edging her voice, “He covered -your- ears, Glimmer. Becuase you were unconsious. Because you got tased. Because you didn’t stay in the castle. He had that drone. We had this. We were taking care of this!” 

“I couldn’t let you guys do this by yourselves!” Glimmer snapped, but her voice had a little less conviction, a little less anger than it did before, “I… I couldn’t let you fight them yourselves.” 

“Why not?”

Bow put his hand on Glimmer’s shoulder. “Glimmer..” He said softly, “You.. You should have stayed in the castle.” 

Glimmer shrugged his hand off her shoulder, “What, now you’re siding with them?” She snapped, pointing at Hordak and Entrapta, “You’re believing them, after everything they did!?”

“Glimmer I…” Bow sighed, “I’m believing.. I’m beliving logic.”

“This wouldn’t be happening at all if it wasn’t for them!” 

“I know.” Bow said softly. He frowned, then looked at her, “Hordak… Entrapta… and Shadow Weaver.” 

Glimer narrowed her eyes, “That’s different.”    
  


“Becuase she used to be one of us? Or becuase she knew your father.” 

“That’s not-”   
  


“Because you’re willing to trust her. You let her use your own magic, Glimmer. You’re letting her advise you.” 

“She wasn’t as Bad as Hordak.” 

“Or Entrapta?” Bow Countered. “Glimmer… We left Entrapta there. If we hadn’t, none of this would have happened either. And besides… Why did Shadow Weaver come back to Bright Moon?”

Glimmer didn’t answer. After a moment, Bow answered for her, “Becuase she had nowhere else to go. Hordak is here becuase of Entrapta. Hordak sent out the S.O.S for Entrapta.” He frowned, “We put a truth spell on him. He’s told us everything. He’s agreed to your terms, wore your bracelet, faught with us, and now he’s ..” He looked at Entrapta. “What’s wrong with him anyway?”

“Inner ear damage, I’d have to guess.” She said. “I think he’s consious, but the way he moved before he fell, I don’t think he has any sense of balance right now.” 

“He did that to destroy the drones.” Bow said to Glimmer. 

Glimmer was silent. 

Adora stepped forward, “I can heal him, Entrapta…” 

Entrapta held onto him, her hair seperating Adora from him, “If you heal him, what happens to the tech in his body?”

Adora frowned, “I don’t understand…”

“He’s got implants all through his body.” Entrapta explained, “If you heal him, will his body push that tech out? Will it heal around him?”

Adora frowned, her brows knitting together. 

“I think he’ll heal.” Entrapta said. “He said just to get him to the carrier. He just needs time, I think. He heals really fast, and I really don’t think he’d do something that would permanently damage him. He’s smarter than that.” She looked up, and glared at Glimmer. 

Glimmer looked away, her face flushed an angry red. 

“Look.” Bow finally said, “Blaming each other isn’t going to help. Let's just get Hordak back to the carrier, and back to Bright Moon. If he doesn’t show signs of healing soon, then we’ll consider what we can do to heal him around his tech.” 

Entrapta put a hand to Horda’s face, and whispered something. His eyes opened briefly, unfocused, then closed again as though he was in pain. She looked at Glimmer. 

“I Can’t lift him.” She said, “The bracelets keep me from being able to do that. And I doubt you can manage to lift him on your own.” 

Glimmer turned away,and looked at the black bracelet on her wrist. Shadow Weaver had spent a lot of time and energy making these bracelets, and conceiving of every possible way that Hordak and Entrapta could circumvent them. Them being caught in a situation quite like this hadn’t passed either of their minds. 

Well, not quiet. 

Glimmer lifted her bracelet, and looked at a small rune that had been etched in the stone. An emergency release, just in case Hordak or Entrapta were caught or killed, and Glimmer herself needed to get away. 

She sighed, and stroked the rune. The bracelet dissolved off her wrist, and into a pile of black sand on the ground. As she did this, the bracelets on Entrapta and Hordak’s wrists dissolved away as well. 

Entrapta didn’t say thank you. Didn’t say anything. She lifted Hordak up with her hair, cradling him as gently as she could before her as she walked off towards the carrier. 

\---------

Hordak fell in and out of consiousness several times. His body needed to heal, and it was trying to get as much sleep as it could in order to help with that, but the pain in his throat and his ears kept waking him up. Even in his sleep he felt like he was spinning. 

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but finally the spinning slowed. His ears were starting to heal. 

He opened his eyes. He was back in Bright Moon now, in the room he and Entrapta had been given. Imp was laying next to him, trying to shake him awake. Entrapta was curled up near him on her Data Pad, her fingers running over the screen as she worked. 

He tried to say her name, but all that came out was a rough and ragged croak that he could scarcly hear over the ringing of his ears. At the very least, it was better than it had been. The deep, muffled soudn of the world around him had made him feel trapped in his own body -especially where he hadn’t been able to move. 

Entrapta snapped up, and looked over at him. Her face was filled with relief. “You’re awake!” 

He nodded, and tried to speak again, but all he could manage was that terrible, rough croak. 

Entrapta scrambled off the bed, and ran to the door. She said something to someone on the other side - Hordak assumed it was the guards - then grabbed something off the bedside table, and pressed it into Hordak’s hand before helping him slowly up into a sitting position. 

“Are you dizzy?” She asked. Her voice was careful and slow, and even so it took him a moment to figure out what she had asked. He nodded. She carefully propped him up with extra pillows, getting him up into a sitting position. 

In his hands was a data pad. It was dark blue, and looked very new. Entrapta pressed a button on the screen, and what looked like a basic text editor came up. 

“Tell me everything.” She said. 

\------

By the time he was finished typing out his message, Bow and Adora come to their room. Hordak was still laying back on the pillows - he had tried to sit up more, but the room was still spinning. 

“Where’s Glimmer.” Entrapta demanded. There was an edge to her voice that even Hordak could hear. Adora and Bow looked at each other awkwardly. 

“Doesn’t matter.” Entrapta said, brushing off their silence. Hordak was confused. He thought she’d be more than happy to be there while he was stuck in bed, unable to speak to move too much. 

He wanted to ask what happened, but Entrapta had taken the data pad from him as he finished typing. He’d have to ask her late. 

She sat on the edge of the bed, holding the data pad with her hair as she read. 

“What I did was called a sonic attack,” She read, “It’s considered a last defensive strike for clones. With this incident, I’ve done this twice in my life - once in training, and now with the drones. 

As demonstrated, the damage caused by this technique, both to myself, and to my target is impressive. 

It’s not recommended for regular use. As you can see, there’s some intense physical side effects of using this technique. I’ve torn up my vocal chords. My ears shut down to protect my long term hearing, and my inner ear - managing balance in a similar way to Etherian ears- has shattered. 

This will all heal with some rest. In about 12 hours from the time I used this technique, I’ll be able to move and walk normally, more or less. 

The damage to my vocal chords is a little more extensive, and they simply don’t heal as fast anyway. They’ll take a couple of days. I should be able to speak for short periods soon though. 

Please don’t put me in a situation where I have to do this again.”

Entrapta deposited the data pad back into Hordak’s hands, “He’ll heal.” She said. Bow nodded. “And he’ll be up tomorrow?”

Hordak nodded. He was still right there, he could still answer questions to a point. 

“The other princesses will be here tomorrow.” Adora said, “So that’s good.” 

Hordak frowned, confused, and looked to Entrapta.

“The Princess Alliance.” She said, looking at Hordak, “I think Mermista is here already. The rest will be here by morning.” SHe looked back at Bow and Adora, “Do they know that Hordak and I are here.” 

“It’s… Probably best to explain that to them once they’re here.” He said. “Once we’ve explained the situation, we’re hoping that they’ll agree to work with Hordak.” He looked to Hordak, “If you can think of anything you can say to them, short or going under a truth spell again…”    
  


Hordak felt his ears flick down. He didn’t want to be under a truth spell again, especially not in front of a bunch of Princesses. He shook his head. 

“Then I hope you can convince them that we need to work with you.” He said. Hordak nodded. He was certain that he could manage something. He was also certain that what he said under the truth spell wouldn’t be kept from the princesses, but that was better than explaining everything himself, and potentially being asked questions he wasn’t comfortable answering. He also didn’t like how he rambled under a truth spell. 

Bow walked up towards Hordak, and set something down on the bedside table next to him. A thermos, it looked like. 

“It’s hot water with honey mixed in.” Bow explained at Hordak’s questioning look, “You coughed up a lot of blood. I thought this might help.”

Hordak nodded. He didn’t know if it would, but he’d try anything right now. HIs throat felt raw, and he’d have to be able to speak tomorrow. 

Bow gave a quick nod back to him, then went up to Adora, and whispered something that Hordak couldn’t hear at the moment before they left him and Entrapta alone. 

Once they left, Entrapta pushed herself back up next to Hordak, and shifted him so that his head was resting against her. He half wanted to say he didn’t need to be coddled, but as she held him, embraced him, he found that need or no, he wanted her close. 

Especially as he started to remember what Light Hope had said. 

He let his hand hover over his data pad, he wanted to say something, but he didn’t know what. What could he say to all that. 

Finally, he typed three simple words on the data pad as Entrapta watched him. 

=I’m so sorry=

Entrapta looked at him, confused, her arms, tightening around him, “what.. What are you sorry for?”

=The Chemical monogamy thing that that hologram talked about. I did not know that that was something my species did= He felt his ears flush as he typed, as Entrapta read silently. 

=I don’t think it affects Etherian biology in the same away. You’re not bound by it.= Hordak felt his breathing increase as he continued to type. 

=You didn’t ask for that.= His breathing raced as he continued to type, his stomach rolled, = I won’t blame you if you change your mind= 

“Change my mind?” She asked. 

=About staying with me.= 

She suddenly knocked the data pad out of his hands, turned his face towards her, and kissed him deeply. He reached up, and held onto her, his arms wrapped around her shoulders. 

“I won’t change my mind.” She said as she pulled away from him. Her voice was husky, like she was about to start crying. He cursed himself- that wasn’t his intention and now he didn’t have his data pad handy to explain. “I’m not some young girl, Hordak. I’m a grown woman. And I’ve never met anyone I’ve connected with, that I could stand being around as much as you. I don’t even like being in contact with most people like I am with you. “She looked at him, a sad smile on her face, “I’m sorry… but if you get sick of me, You’re stuck with me. I’ve kinda trapped you.”

He tried to say something - some kind of protest, but all that came out was a croak. 

“You didn’t know. I didn’t know. And now… Now ..” She started crying, softly at first, then louder, violent sobs shaking her body. 

“Now you’re stuck with the freak princess.” She whispered. He made another pathetic noise in an attempt to interrupt her, to contradict her, but she continued.

“That first time… “ She said softly, “That first time we were together. You told me to leave. You said I should leave and I…” She gave another choking sob, “I didn’t... “ She curled her face into her chest, “I didn’t.You weren’t in your right mind, and I didn’t leave and now-” 

He felt his ears flick down. Even now, the thought of his first rut was an embarrassing one. He had no idea what was happening, and ended up in a very compromised position in front of Entrapta. He told her to leave because he wanted her so badly. In that moment he had wanted her more than he had ever wanted anything else in his long life. But she had wanted him as well.

Neither of them knew that it would bind them together, or at least that it would bind him to her. He had been worried that she’d change her mind about him, that she’s stop loving him, and he’d life the rest of his life in that same state that he had sunk into when she was gone for those few days after the portal incident. 

As she wept into him, he cursed himself for never considering that she might feel bad about it all. 

His breath was still a bit fast. He didn’t know what he wanted to say to her, but it didn’t matter because he couldn’t say anything anyway. Instead, he pulled her in close, and held her to him, holding her in his arms. She wrapped her hair around him, holding him tight. He tried to speak, but he couldn’t, so he contented himself with simply nuzzling his face into her neck, holding her as tightly as he dared. 

“I’m sorry, Hordak, I-” 

He couldn’t talk. He couldn’t interrupt her, not like that, so he kissed her instead, then held her until her crying subsided, and she fell into an uneasy doze. 

He wasn’t long slipping into sleep himself after that. He had a lot of healing to do. 

  
  
  
  



	18. Biology

Hordak awoke in the middle of the night. He didn’t know how long he had been sleeping, but the sky had still been bright, the sunlight flowing through the very wide windows in his room in Bright Moon last time he remembered opening his eyes. Now it was dark, save for the comforting green glow of the screens; silent save for the soft hum of the computers. 

He was grateful for the relative silence, and the dimmer lighting situation. His head was still aching from spinning half the day. Thankfully, his ears seemed to have repaired themselves, and the room was no longer swirling. 

Entrapta had perhaps originally curled up nearly into his side, but now she was sprawled over him, snoring gently, her hair twisting around him as it always did. At this point, he was pretty sure he’d be worried if he woke up and her hair wasn’t around him. Imp was laying on his back, chirping away on Hordak’s chest which was uncharacteristic of him - he might curl up in Entrapta’s hair, or near him, but not on him. 

Maybe Imp had been worried about him. 

Hordak carefully shifted himself up, wanting to just sit up for a moment, rolled his shoulders, maybe drink more or that now very room-temperature tea that Bow had left to soothe his still aching throat. As he moved, the blanket fell off him, and revealed…. He didn’t know what it revealed, in fact. It was a lighter, cooler garment than what he had been wearing eariler. It clung to his neck and chest, it’s open back cutting off just at his waist as the bottom swam around his legs. It was made of silky fabric in a deep purple, with pink bats scattered across it. 

He knit his brows together. What in Etheria…

“Morgana made them.” Entrapta said. Apparently despite his careful movements, he had woken her. “She made us a matching set.” She said as she sat up, revealing a loose tank top made in the same print. “I have a tank top and shorts. She made you a nightgown.” 

“Nightclothes.” Hordak croaked, his voice still rough and damaged. He reached for the thermos, “Etherians are strange.” 

“The whole Horde doesn’t sleep naked, Hordak.” Entrapta pointed out. “Most of them sleep in bunks, so they all have those awful, itchy pajamas.” 

Hordak scoffed, then took a drink of his tea. When he was finished, he said, “The Horde on -Etheria- has night clothes. The proper Horde doesn’t.” Entrapta looked at him, her head tilted. Hordak shrugged, “It’s considered a waste of resources, and we’re all clones anyway.” 

Entrapta gave a little giggle, “So someone as shy as you-”

Hordak felt his ears flick down, “I’m not shy.” 

“-I didn’t imagine you’d be ok sleeping naked with a bunch of people.” 

Hordak shrugged, propping himself up on his pillows, “Well.. Back then, I looked like every other clone. Now I don’t. Now, I have..” He gestured at his body, “Issues. Ports. If I was back in the Horde, I’d be stared at. Here I’d be stared at. Gawked at.” 

Entrapta nodded, and snuggled up to him, “well, I like to gawk at you anyway. But, I understand that.” She said. She grinned at she looked up at him, “But you look cute in your nightgown, and cuddling you in this is kinda nice.”

Hordak’s ears burned, but he at least didn’t look away. 

Imp kicked in his sleep. 

“You… Are very becoming in yours as well.” He said. 

She grinned at the still sleeping Imp, “He’s got one too, but he wouldn’t let me dress him.” 

“No?”

“He absolutely refused to be taken from you.” She said.

Hordak nodded slowly, “well, he’s never seen me like that.” Hordak shifted slightly, Moving Imp to a more comfortable position. “He.. Gets worried when I’m in pain.” 

Entrapta nodded, and gently stroked Imp’s head. “Hordak?” she looked at Imp, Frowning. “Why… does Imp have wings?”

Hordak shrugged, “He’s based off my own DNA.” He said as he let his fingertips brush against his wings, “But I honestly figured it was just a mutation.” 

“But Light Hope said that most of you.. Most of the Chilacians had wings.” 

Hordak nodded, frowning. Yes, they had wings, but Prime had a genetic defect that kept him from growing his. That idea, that Prime had a defect, was so strange to Hordak. It was somewhat satisfying too. They were both defective. The whole Horde was, technically, defective. 

Hordak was just a little more defective than the others. 

“It’s possible…” He said, not having had a chance to consider this before, “Perhaps there was a mutation that caused something to stunt the wings, or prevent their growth, and what coded the wings was there all along. Maybe when I cloned Imp, I broke the gene that suppressed the wing growth.” He shrugged. “There were a lot of .. Issues with Imp though.”

Entrapta leaned over, and gave Imp a little peck on the head, “I love him just as he is.” 

Ears blue, Hordak leaned forward, and nuzzled into her hair, wrapping his arms around her for a moment as she let her hair twist around him. 

After a moment, she looked up, frowning at him, “Just what were you doing awake anyway. You still sound like you’re in pain.” 

“I am, a little.” He admitted, “I just woke up, probably because of throat pain. My vocal cords took a couple of days to heal the first time I did this. I imagine it’ll take longer now, if anything.”

“And… you don’t feel so dizzy?”

“Ears appear to have recovered.” He said. 

Entrapta smiled, leaned in, and kissed them gently which drew a little gasp from Hordak. 

“Good.” She said, “I like your ears.” She looked at them for a moment, then suddenly said, “Oh! Right! You speak with your ears!” 

Hordak had nearly forgotten about Light Hope revealing that. It was the least important piece of information that had been given.

“In a sense.” 

“Can you teach me to read them?” She asked, glowing with excitement. 

“I don’t think I can.” Hordak said slowly, “It’s complicated, and there’s some things that just don’t translate well to explain in Etherian. It’s feeling, not communication.” 

Entrapta frowned, leaning into him. Hordak did want to teach her, He had wanted to teach her his language for a while, but without the proper vocal cords, without the ability to give off the clicks that were so important in his language, he simply couldn’t. He might as well teach a bird to speak Etherian- the anatomy was all wrong. 

But... Maybe there was something on that disc that could help her understand it better?

He suddenly realized that he had forgotten all about that disc until just this moment. He turned to Entrapta suddenly, , “You put me in this thing-” He tugged at his nightgown, “I hope.”

“Yup!” 

“Where's the robes I was wearing earlier. There was something in my pocket.” 

Entrapta whipped her hair out and picked up something from the table nearby. It was the disk Bow had given him. 

“I know what this is.” She said softly, looking up at it from her position on Hordak’s chest, “Every possible answer to your species.” 

He reached out and took it. A part of him didn’t want to look at it. He looked down at Entrapta, “Did you look through it?”

“It didn’t feel right to do it without you.” She said, “I wasn’t even sure you’d want me to see it at all?”

“I do..” Hordak said, slowly. They had a lot of questions they could have answered, but He wasn’t sure he wanted to see what he’d find there. 

“I mean…” Entrapta turned her face half into his chest, “I have a lot of questions…especially about that chemical monogamy thing.” 

Hordak nodded, “That would be.. Useful to know more about.” he admitted. 

Entrapta brought a data pad over with her hair, and without sitting up from Hordak’s chest, dropped it next to him gently. 

Hordak picked up the disc, and was about to put in in the pad when Entrapta stopped him. 

“Hordak…” She asked softly, “How long do … Does your species live?”

Hordak hesitated, his hand about to put the disc in the Data Pad. of course. He should have expected this question, should have thought of that implication as soon as he heard about it all, but he was more concerned with her leaving, not one of them dying. 

“Prime has been around for thousands of years.” Hordak said plainly, “Though, I expect that’s less indicative of a normal Chilacian -” the word felt strange on his tongue “-lifespan and more his own abilities with bioengineering and enhancements. 

“And clones?”

“A thirty year old clone is considered quite old, but that is also not indicative of a natural lifespan, it’s more a result of the lifestyle of the average clone. Generals tend to live longer, I’ve heard of ages up to 60 years old… but again, that’s not indicative of natural lifespans, that’s indicative of how long they lasted before failing Prime too many times.” 

“And.. you?”

“I…” He hesitated. Age differences mattered to Etherians. Often he heard people say that one person was too old, or too young for another person. He hoped that Entrapta wasn’t the same. His age had never come up, and had never been an issue before. 

“Two-hundred and fifty two years old… Not counting my time in the incubators.”

“How old were you when you came out of the incubator.” 

“For a clone to reach full maturity and adulthood, it takes about 3 years. However, that’s highly accelerated growth. “

“.. How long do you think you’ll live?” She asked quietly. Hordak had a sudden moment where he worried that she was wondering to see how long she’d be stuck with him, but a look at her face, the pure concern in her eyes told him he was being an idiot. 

“I..” He sighed, “I have no idea. I should by all rights be dead myself. I don’t know if I’ve passed my natural lifespan because of my own meddling, or if I’m falling terribly short of it, or if it’s been altered for clones.” He tapped the disc, “Even this could have no information on that.” 

“I just don’t want you to be lonely..” Entrapta said softly. Hordak didn’t know how to respond to that. “I … I said I’d stay with you, but if I die…”

He blinked. She was worrying about herself dying? 

“Entrapta..” He said softly, “I don’t know which of us will die first. And honestly, I think for either of us, if we don’t die during this whole ordeal, we’ll have access to enough tech, and enough scientific curiosity to make natural lifespans entirely unnecessary. 

She cuddled into him, still clearly sad. Hordak frowned, “Besides… I’m not worried about… about that.” He said. 

“Why not?” Entrapta asked softly. 

“Well…” He hesitated, knowing full well that what he was about to say was going to sound horrifically sweet and mushy. He felt his ears flick back, and was very grateful that Imp still seemed to be asleep. “If you happened to die, at least I’d… I’d know you-” He looked aside, “You didn’t stop loving me.”

“But you’d still be sad.”

“Yes, but I could look back on when you were alive, and ... I’d have that.” He finished lamley.

Entrapta snuggled into him, wrapping her hair around him as she pushed the disk into the Data Pad. “Well…” She said slowly, “When this is over, we’ll have to make a lot of memories. For both of us.” She muttered something under her breath about keeping a video, which Hordak decided to ignore. 

“Let’s… Let’s just look for specific answers for now.” Hordak said, “There’s a lot of information on this and… “ And what? H didn’t think he could take it. Was he afraid of what he’d learn. Was he worried that he just couldn’t take his world shifting and changing so many times in one day?

“And we’ll get bogged down trying to just learn everything at once.” Entrapta finished. The Disc Loaded, and the screen turned green, and showed two files. The entirety of what Hordak was was separated into “Science” and “Culture.” 

Idly, he wondered if the same could be said for Etherians. He supposed they’d have to have a seperate file for “Magic” Unless they deigned to put that alongside science. 

Hordak hovered his hand over the screen for a moment, then opened the science folder.

Science < Biology< Chilac Biology. The files were organized neatly into dichotomies, making navigation easy. He continued to flick through topics until at last he found one titled “Reproduction “

“Are you sure you want me here?” Entrapta asked quietly.

Hordak felt his ears heat up as he responded, “This...will be easier than explaining things to you afterwards.” He said. In his mind the only thing that could be more humiliating than sitting down to learn how his species was able to reproduce at his age would be trying to awkwardly explain it afterwards. At least this would be academic. Hopefully. 

He opened the file. 

==From birth to maturation, reproduction is an impossibility. Reproductive organs are present, but inactive until an individual has lived 16 cycles, with variations from individual to individual. ==

“Sixteen cycles?” Entrapta asked as Hordak quickly did the math in his head. 

“About 30 years, I think.” 

==At 16 cycles - with some variation - the individual is able to seek out a mate- a normally lengthy process. For proper reproductive functionality to occur, the individual must first form an emotional bond with another individual. Over time, should the deep bond of friendship shift to a more romantic state, the brain releases hormones which at first are asymptomatic. 

There is debate as to if romantic feelings between individuals are a result of hormones, or if the hormones are a result of romantic feelings. Regardless of the truth, the hormones program the brain, setting these feelings into permanence. 

Should the relationship continue and grow, levels will hit a critical point, creating the potential for reproductive ability. Hormonal information is shared between individuals through scent and touch, noticeable now by an increase in perception in these scents. 

At some point, during the fluctuations in hormones among individuals, one individual will supply more hormones than the other, asserting their position as the source. When a Source produces enough hormones in a spike, The other individual, the receptive individual, will then mirror hormones in opposition to their mates hormones. When the Sender’s primary hormones spike, the Receptive’s primary hormones will spike. When the Sender’s primary hormones fall to a low, so do the Receptive’s primary hormones. 

The Sendee will continue to produce the hormones necessary to fully develop a uterus, and start producing eggs. The Receptive’s will produce an internal phallus, and genetic materials. The reproductive organs associated with the dominant hormone in each individual will finish development in a fast, and normally exhaustive process before the first rutting cycle. 

This process normally does not shift or reverse after a bonding has taken place, but it is not unheard of. ==

“Does that mean you could ...get pregnant?” Entrapta turned up to look at Hordak, who was paying very close attention to the screen of the data pad, his ears parallel to the ground. 

“I suppose..if you started giving off a different hormone. “

Entrapta frowned, making a dull humming noise in the back of her throat 

Hordak decided not to think on that. 

==During a successful first rut, hormones and genetic materials are exchanged. The individuals are now linked to one another by a chemical bond that recognized only hormone scents from one another, linking up reproductive cycles for the greatest chance of procreation. 

Should a receptive individuals partner be absent, rut and other hormonal fluctuations will not occur.

While a sending and receptive role can in rare cases be switched between bonded individuals, an individual who has bonded cannot bond to another individual if their own mate becomes absent. In the absence of their mate after bonding, an individual's reproductive abilities will go into stasis until the partner returns. If the partner does not return, the stasis will be permanent. ==

The file went on to talk about the actual process of reproduction and pregnancy which wasn’t a particular concern at this point. Hordak was pretty certain that he and Entrapta weren’t compatible. 

Curled up next to him, Entrapta finished reading, “That makes a lot of sense.” She said softly, dozing off. 

“What does.” Hordak asked, trying to take what he’s just learned, and fit it into the confusing, and frankly embarrassing months that he had spent figuring things out with Entrapta. 

“Well.. Your uh, Rutting..” She said, a light blush going over her face, “I guess I’m the ‘Sender’ In all this.” 

He felt his ears burn.

“And also why you feel so tired and blah when I’m on my period.” 

He sighed, and turned off the Data Pad. 

“So that first time we- “

“Yes. We must have bonded then.. Which, yes does explain my… frequency, as well as my occasional lack of drive and energy when you’re unwell.” 

Entrapta leaned against Hordak, silent for several long moments. Hordak was in fact almost asleep before she spoke again, “So, If my hormones were to drastically change…” 

“I assume my body would try to keep up.” He growled. 

“And… if they changed enough, you’d... “ 

“I’d probably.. shift, for lack of a better word.” He said. He wished he could remove his ears. Entrapta must have sensed his discomfort, because she reached up, hesitated for a moment as her hand brushed against his hair, and then she gently played with his hair. 

He felt himself sink into the pillows, and relax. This always helped him relax.

“That’s going to make for interesting old age.” She said. 

He didn’t think to respond. Entrapta knew how he just melted when she started to play with his hair, and he was still tired, still recovering. He wasn’t sure he could have gotten back to sleep at this point, but he drifted off quickly thanks to Entrapta. 

  
  


  
  



	19. Delegate

Hordak didn’t dream. Not like Entrapta did at times, not like nightmares she had which woke her up and left her sobbing. Sometimes, when he was injured and sleeping to recover he might awake with a vague feeling that something had happened which he had forgotten. Today was one such day when he woke up, his breath fast from whatever had been going through his head. 

Whatever it was, it wasn’t good. It didn’t matter though. His throat still hurt, he was sure he still sounded awful, but Entrapta had her hair wrapped around him, her arms over his chest. 

Everything was alright. 

Hordak detangled himself from the sleeping Entrapta, dressed, then checking to make sure she was still sleeping, he leaned in and kissed her gently on the head before he left their room. 

Their door was still being watched by two guards, who give him a fixed look as he carefully closed the door behind him. He sighed as he looked at them, swallowing his pride. 

He did not want to do what he was about to do. 

“I need to speak to Queen Glimmer.” He said to one of them. His voice didn’t hurt so badly, it no longer felt like knives slashing at his throat with every syllable, but he still sounded very rough, like his voice was being scraped against a stone wall before it left his mouth, weak and damaged. They exchanged looks, then one nodded to the other and gestured for Hordak walk ahead of her. 

He had hoped that Glimmer would have come to their room during his waking moments, but no such luck. Not that he didn’t enjoy her lack of shrill accusations and glares, but they’d be meeting the other princesses soon, and it was vitally important that he speak to her before they arrived. 

They walked in silence to a large pink door. Of course it was pink. Everything here seemed to be some shade of pastel. The guard knocked, and he heard from inside a muffled “yes?”

The guard opened the door, and escorted him inside. 

Hordak was self-aware enough to admit that sometimes he let his lab, and his work area get a little… chaotic. This normally happened when he was in the middle of a larger project that took all his time and effort and energy. He still knew where everything was, but to the outside eye it was a cluttered, chaotic mess. The office that he was led into wasn’t the organized chaos of his lab, it was just chaos. Boxes filled with disorganized papers were stacked all over the place. Piles of papers lay on a large desk that sat before a large, empty wooden chair. 

Hordak frowned and looked around, not seeing Glimmer at first. Something caught his ear, and he glanced up to follow the sound. Glimmer had apparently teleported herself to the top of a large bookcase, and was digging through a box, tossing papers to the side as she dug through it with frustrated determination. 

“... A bad time, I take it.” He said. Glimmer glanced down at him, then rolled her eyes as she teleported with the box to the seat behind the desk. In one quick motion she pushed the other papers off the desk, then dumped the new box out. 

“Everytime is a bad time.” She muttered. He wasn’t sure if she meant that specifically for him, or if she was just implying that she was busy. Perhaps both. 

“Regardless.” He tried to keep his tone calm as he walked into the room, “This cannot wait.” 

Glimmer pushed a few papers around, then slumped down. “Fine. Not like I’m making progress here.”

Hordak glanced about the room, looking for Shadow Weaver. She wasn’t there. He had assumed she was acting as her advisor, but apparently that wasn’t accurate. 

“The other princesses are coming today, I am told.” He said. 

“Yeah. A bunch of us. All with magic. So you better not-”

Suppressing a sigh, he raised his hands palm first. 

“Why do you do that.” 

Hordak frowned at her, “Do what” 

“That thing with your hands. You do it all the time.” 

Hordak had hardly noticed he was doing it. It was an old gesture, one he hadn’t had used since crashing in Etheria, “I’m showing you my hands.” he said, confused, “Showing you they’re not in fists, not holding weapons. I’m not intending to do anything.” 

Glimmer sat back in her chair, not exactly frowning, but with skeptical eyes glaring at him. 

He folded his arms behind himself at the small of his back, “The other princesses are coming, but I’m led to believe they don’t know Entrapta and I are here.” 

“Right.” 

“I assume they don’t know about Prime either.”   
  


“Not yet.” 

“So how do you intend to...bring up my presence here to them.”

Glimmer sighed and slumped into her chair. “I’m honestly not sure.” She said, “Maybe I’ll tell them we have defectors from the Fright Zone working with us and then just bring you in?”

Hordak went over that situation in his mind, “That would potentially prove amusing, but not effective.”

“Well, I don’t have any other ideas on else to tell them.” She snapped, “I could tell them about how you’ve fallen head over heels for Entrapta, but given she’s been working for you for so long now, I don’t necessarily think that would inspire trust.”

Hordak gave a quick bark of laughter, which drew a confused look from Glimmer. “Who said anything about trust?” he asked.

“We have to trust you if we’re going to work with you.”

“Adorable.” Hordak said. “No, you have to work with me. The only ‘trust’ you need to have is that I want to take down Horde Prime more than you. Besides that, I surrendered.” 

“You could have been faking it.”

“You put me under a truth spell.”

“But the other princesses weren’t there.”

“I did surrender.” Hordak said carefully, “so tell them that. Just tell them the truth- present it in the most comprehensible way. Tell them I’m in love with Entrapta, if you must. But also give them something that they’ll believe.”

“What’s that then.”

“You tell them that I was deposed from my position as head of the Horde. My commander came, ordered me executed, but I escaped, and now I’m helping you so I can see him defeated.” He tilted his head at her, “Me working with you for the sake of revenge is a lot more believable to you, isn’t it? Even though you know why I’m really here.” Glimmer frowned, sitting back in her seat, but didn’t say anything. “Tell them that, then have Entrapta and I brought in.” 

Glimmer looked at the papers on the table before her, silent.

“Well then.” He gave an awkward little half bow - She was a queen, and the queen he surrendered to so he felt it prudent to follow decorum - and turned to leave.

“That’s it?”

Hordak froze, and turned to look at her. She was still staring at the table. 

“Yes?” He said. What else did she want from him?

“You’re not going to yell at me.” 

Hordak was confused. “You’re a queen. Technically, you’re my queen, I’ve surrendered to you.” He turned fully, frowning, “I don’t understand why that’s so hard to understand.” He shook his head, “No, I’d not yell at you. I wouldn’t take that from my own subordinates in the Fright Zone.”

“Nobody else seems to feel that way.” She snapped. She leaned forward, her head in her hands on the table. 

“Why am I supposed to be yelling at you.” Hordak said carefully. He really hoped she wasn’t going to start crying - she was shrill enough as it was. 

“Oh, for running out and getting zapped by the drones!” She snapped, looking up at him, “For getting you injured! Entrapta yelled at me. Adora yelled at me.” She sunk back down in her seat, her hands back at her head, “Bow didn’t, but he wanted to. I know he did.” 

“Disrespect to a superior officer - that includes royalty that I might be serving under - is not something I have been trained to do.” He stated.

“But you would yell at me otherwise.” 

“Probably not.” He said, “My throat hurts too much to do that.” 

That was probably the wrong thing to say. Her hands clutched at her head. He growled deep in his throat, but then coughed roughly. 

“You did something stupid.” He finally said, his voice rasping. “You’re young. You’re new to this. You’re going to make mistakes.” 

She was crying, quietly though. Hordak might not have noticed if his ears didn’t catch her ragged breathing. 

“I was awful to her.” She said. 

“To..?”

“My mother.” She sniffled, “I was so angry that she didn’t go out and fight. I thought she was a coward…” She idly tried to brush away tears without him noticing. “I don’t know what I’m doing.” 

“Isn’t Shadow Weaver helping you?” He asked. Glimmer shook her head, “Not really. She’s doing her own studies.” 

“Then make her help you.” he snapped. Glimmer looked up at him, confused. He frowned at her, “You’re her queen too. That means you can delegate certain tasks to other people. Shadow Weaver hates bureaucracy, but she’s good at it. She knows how the royalty works, and how the Fright Zone works. There’s no reason why she shouldn’t be advising you in this.” He frowned at all the papers, “At the very least, she can sort this for you. Get a system in place for all this.” A thought crossed his mind, “How did you convince the other princesses to trust -her- ?”

“I didn’t.” Glimmer admitted, “You had Adora, and she was our only hope of getting her back. I was going, the others went with me.” 

Hordak nodded, “Then it’s easy to figure out what else to tell the other princesses.” He said Idly, “Horde Prime -Will- Have Etheria. Working with me is the only way to prevent that.” 

He gave another little bow, and left. He didn’t know how to comfort her, and really didn’t want to. 

\-----

On the way back to his room, he crossed paths with Bow, who was looking at something on a new Data Pad, grumbling to himself. He glanced up as Hordak passed him, and froze. 

“You’re up??”

“I heal fast.” Hordak said. The guard that was escorting him stopped and waited. “I’ve noticed that blasted bracelet is gone. Are the guards still necessary?”

“I’ll talk to Glimmer about it.” Bow said, “But I think they’ll want to… keep an eye on you for a bit longer?”

Hordak nodded, then very carefully said, “Don’t speak to Queen Glimmer about it today.” 

“Why not?”

“She appears… concerned about the consequences of her actions.” Hordak knew that she and Bow were close, yes, but there were guards here, and he knew how people liked to gossip. Even if they looked just as mechanical and depersonalized as the armored guards in the Fright Zone, they were still people, and they would talk. “I think some reassurance before we meet with the other princesses would be prudent.” 

Bow looked at him, frowning, then nodded, “Right. I’ll go see her now.” He started walking down the hallway towards Glimmer’s office, then turned back, “I have to ask though...Can I ask a question?”

“Go ahead.” Hordak replied. He didn’t have to answer if it was a question he didn’t like. He was expecting a question about the disc, or about the things that Light Hope had said. 

“What kind of frequency did you have to hit to make the -trees- shatter like that!” He was half in awe, half horrified, but entirely curious. Hordak managed to suppress a smirk, 

“A very very high one.” 

\----------

Hordak and Entrapta waited outside the door to a larger meeting room. The other princesses were inside, waiting. Glimmer had just entered to speak to them first, then Hordak and Entrapta would be let in by the guards. 

They could hear the goings on inside. 

“We’ve been alerted to something… really bad.” He heard Glimmer say. 

“We’ve had reports from the Fright Zone.” one of the other princesses said, her voice monotone and dull. That would be easier on his ears at least, “There’s more ships, and more internal activity. Hordak must be planning something.”

“Uhhh.. Not Hordak.” Glimmer said nervously, “We’ve had reports that there’s someone worse than that; Hordaks.. Superior. And he’s come to take Etheria.

“So we stop him!” This was a younger voice. Too young. Hordak hoped that was a trick of his ears. 

“I have it on very good information that we can’t. Not alone. We’re far too outnumbered.” 

“Where did this information come from?” 

“Uhhh….. From Hordak?”

There was a commotion inside. Several voices speaking at once. Hordak felt his ears flick in irritation - that was not the best way to do that. 

“This superior of his-” Glimmer was yelling now, “Tried to Execute Hordak. He came to us with Entrapta, and Surrendered!” 

“Why with Entrapta?” It was the younger one again. 

“Because they’re totally a couple!” It was Bow. Hordak felt his ears flick down and burn blue as he wondered if Bow knew he was just outside. 

That comment silenced the princesses though. 

“... Really?” It was the bored voice. “Like.. Reciprocal? Entrapta’s into that?”

Hordak felt a strand of hair wrap around his waist, Reassuring. He shuffled closer to her, and gently put his hand on her shoulder. 

He heard a sigh from Adora. “Yes. Yes, it’s reciprocal. Entrapta Is entirely in love with him.” There was a groan, “She won’t hear a bad word about him.They agreed to get married if we survive this.” 

There was a long, long silence. Hordak felt himself getting nervous, though he didn’t know why. 

“.... Really.” the deadpan voice again, “There’s going to be a wedding. With Hordak.”

“If Entrapta still wants to when it’s all over.” It was Adora again. 

“And if he’s not just using her.” the bored voice said. 

“He’s not!” It was Bow again, “Light Hope told us that-”   
  


“That can wait!” It was Glimmer. Hordak suddenly felt very grateful for her. She was the only one who knew that he and Entrapta was out here, and though now he knew that the Princesses would find out about what Light Hope said sooner or later, at least he didn’t have to go into a room of people, JUST after they found out about any of that. 

“And we’re sure he’s not just going to double cross us?” It was that very young voice again, 

“We put him under a truth spell.” Glimmer said, “He said he loves her then. And when we went to the Whispering Woods, we were attacked by drones. Which he fought off. And he hurt himself in the process.” 

Another long silence. “I’m going to bring Hordak and Entrapta in now.” Glimmer said, “He has more information, and a basic plan. He’ll be able to answer any questions” 

Hordak squeezed a lock of Entrapta’s hair as she wrapped it around his wrist. A guard came in to lead them into the meeting room. He took a breath, straightened his tunic, and stood straight and tall. 

Time to meet his new allies. 


	20. Princesses

There were ten people in the room in total, nine of which were sitting around a large round table in a pastel colored room. Bow, Adora, and Queen Glimmer ( who looked rather more composed now) sat down with six others. They looked at Hordak - not Entrapta- their eyes untrusting and scared save for one who seemed much younger than the others who had only anger in her eyes.

Behind Glimmer stood Shadow Weaver, crawled out from whatever hole she had been studying in. Hordak idly wondered if Glimmer had already taken his advice regarding her.

There was a chair there, empty, that reminded him of Entrapta, lacking the otherwise flowey and colourful designs of the others. Hordak assumed that was Entrapta’s. In fact, they all seemed to have such seats. Bow had a plain seat brought in for him, and he sat next to Glimmer. He was glad that Entrapta stayed next to him, instead of walking to what was clearly her chair.

He took a breath. He wished his voice was better, but he didn’t have time to wait and recover. They had already wasted enough time. He cleared his voice, and spoke.

“If you were called to bring every available soldier to war right this instant, how many would you be able to summon.”

They all glanced to Glimmer, then one by one, gave him a number. He added them up in his head quickly. The youngest one gave a number then said, “But I’ll fight too, and I’m worth ten soldiers!”

Hordak suppressed a frown. Did they allow a child- an actual child - to fight? He’d ask about that later.

“You have more soldier than I thought.” He said when they were done. “And If I add more - Anywhere from 20-30% more, because I’m positive that none of you gave me the proper numbers, then Horde Prime and his troops will still outnumber you.

“Numbers aren’t everything.” The deadpan one said - she was slightly shorter, and dressed all in blue. “Tactics are important too.”

“Horde Prime could outnumber your soldiers 100 to 1, with no logistical issues.” Hordak had to describe this as well as he could. “He could outnumber the entire population of Etheria - every soldier, civilian, and child, and still not feel any strain on his forces. You could then obliterate each of those soldiers, and He’d just send 200 more.”

He looked from face to face. They looked scared, yes, but skeptical.

“Furthermore, each of these soldiers is a clone of Horde Prime.. Just like me. Except I am defective.” He had argued with himself if he’d admit that, but they had to know what they were facing. “As well, they have technology from across the universe at their disposal, while you have the frankly rudimentary technology of your own planet. You speak of tactics? You can gather the best tactical minds of you planet- he has at his disposal the best in the universe. You may have the greatest scientific mind on your planet working for you,” He shot a glance at Entrapta, “But he has the best scientific minds of countless planets, and they’re have technology and advantages and opportunities that you can’t even begin to fathom.”

They looked properly scared now. Good.

“So… Is there a point?” It was the deadpan one. He glanced to Glimmer, raising a brow. She seemed confused for a moment, but then sat upright suddenly.

“Hordak, This is Princess Mermista, of Salineas.” She said. He nodded.

“The point for now, is that he hasn’t started a full invasion yet. Right now, he has only a handful of his own Vanguard, and just the resources of the Fright Zone.”

“Just?” It was the younger girl.

“Frosta of the Kingdom of Snows.” Glimmer said.

“What do you mean Just!” He stood up on her chair, yelling,” We’ve had enough trouble trying beat you!”

“Indeed.” Hordak said, “And unlike me, Horde Prime has the technology to open a portal, and bring as many forces here as he needs.” He looked at them, letting the silence linger, “But now you have someone with not only the most intimate knowledge of Horde tech and tactics, but of the greater Horde army. If we’re to fight him, we have to beat him before he opens that portal. If he does open that portal, there is no fight. He will invade. He will win. Trying to fight him after that will be like trying to spit on a wildfire.”

They were properly scared now. Good, he was done anyway. Entrapta walked forward, and quietly took her seat. There wasn’t one for Hordak. No matter. He stood behind Entrapta, a hand on the back of her chair. The other princesses looked at him, silent until Mermista finally spoke up.

“Glim- Queen Glimmer said you had a plan.”

Oddly, it was a relief to hear someone else following the way things were done. Hordak nodded.

“The beginning of a plan.” He admitted, “But a plan.” He took a deep breath. He was relieved, this had been a little easier than he had thought, to get them to listen to him, and they seemed to understand - no, not understand, they couldn’t understand, they couldn’t imagine the true vastness of the army they were about to face, but they had an idea.

“We’ve already put the plan into motion.” He said. “We’ve discovered a way to close off the planet from further portals. Horde Prime will be able to work around this, but it'll buy us some time.

After that, we need to go to the Fright Zone. I need supplies from my lab. We need to sabotage the remaining tech, and the Fright Zone itself.” He nodded to Entrapta, “Entrapta will be leading that initiative .”

Entrapta gave a big smile, “I’ve made maps of all the most important power sources of the Fright zone, and I spent a long time hiding around, I can get around without anyone finding me!”

Mermista cleared her voice, “I got to know the sewage pretty well. Will damaging that help.”

“Yes. Very much so.” Hordak almost smiled - there was someone else with a brain here besides him and Entrapta, and maybe Bow. “Do you know what chaos you’d cause if you managed to back up the entirely of the Fright Zone’s internal plumbing? Trust me, It will be something that will be considered a main concern.”

“They key is, “ Hordak continued, “Is that we do this quietly. Whatever we do, we need to make it seem like bad luck. Like a series of natural disasters.” He glanced around, “I’m led to believe you all have naturally centered magical powers due to your runestones. If they can be used to create damage and chaos that will seem to be simple natural disasters, then we can slow him down further.”

“Why do we have to be quiet?” Frosta asked, “Why can’t we go in and just beat him now?”

Hordak sighed, “Because you won’t beat him.” He said, “If we survive, but fail to kill him, He’ll put all his focus on opening the portal, and he’ll do it a lot faster than I did. He has tech that I didn’t. If somehow we do kill him, he has a mental uplink to his mothership, with a backup body. If we kill him, he’ll open a portal from outside Etheria, and back in days at the most in full force.”

“So if that’s the case, how do we beat him?” He glanced at the very tall, slender princess who had flowers in her hair.

“Princess Perfuma,” Glimmer said.

“That’s the other part of my plan.” He said, “The…. Admittedly ambiguous part.” Hordak waited a moment, expecting some kind of comment from one of them. It didn’t come. He cleared his voice. “In order to actually stop Prime, we have to end him, and his clones. All of them. Across the universe. To this end…” He hesitated, “All I’ve been able to come up with is synthesizing a virus of some kind. I’m hoping with access to my equipment, and perhaps taking some of their equipment while in the Fright Zone, I’ll come across something that will help me figure out the … logistical problems.”  
There were a lot of logistical problems. How to infect the clones, but not himself with the virus. How to ensure that it spreads across the universe in a short amount of time. How to ensure that the virus was able to kill the clones quickly, while at the same time being allowed to spread without triggering a quarantine.

To be honest, it was a stupid idea. He had a lot of those. The best final plans he tended to have were often started with stupid ideas. Either he’d come up with a better one, or he’d make this one work. Between him and Entrapta, he was sure they could.

“This is not a perfect plan.” Hordak admitted, “And I'm open to other suggestions. The main, and most important part of all this though, is delaying Prime’s opening of the portal. The first two parts of this plan are what we’re going to focus on.”

“Why are you doing this?” Mermista asked. “I get that you and Entrapta are apparently a thing-” He felt his ears flick down, “But is this just for revenge?”

“I was humiliated in front of my army.” He stated, “I was removed from my position, and I am now considered dead. If Prime wins, I don’t know that I’ll be able to hide. If Prime wins, my life is forfeit, as is Entrapta’s.” He gave a brief nod, “So yes: revenge, and survival.” He looked over the rest of the faces of the princesses. “Any other questions?”

He expected silence. Not the sudden explosion of questions coming from all the princesses at once. That honestly took him aback a little.

“One at a time.” He snapped, before falling into a fit of coughing.”

Mermista started, “What happened to your voice?”

“My species has a type of vocal defensive attack which leave me with some… irritating physical afflictions

One of the others cleared her voice, a larger princess with long purple hair tied up in a ponytail.

“Spinerella.” Glimmer said as an answer to his questioning look.

“Uh yes,” Spinerella, “What - is- your species anyway? We honestly thought you were a half skeleton, half robot. “

Hordak could only blink at that, trying to ignore Shadow Weavers low chuckles. He looked at Entrapta, “Do I look like a skeleton?”

Entrapta bit her lower lip as she looked at him, “Sorta? I Can see it, with your nose and eyes.”

“I am clearly not a skeleton-robot. I’m a clone of Horde Prime.”

“Yeah, but what’s Horde Prime?”

Entrapta took this one, “The last of an alien race: A Chilacian. Light Hope told us that! She recognized Hordak’s species, even knew his language.”

The child Frostica leaned forward in her chair. “You’re an alien? Where’s your planet?”

“I wasn’t made on my planet, I-”

“OK, Why are your eyes red?”

Hordak blinked, slightly confused. “ I- uh.. Bioluminescent blood?”

“That means his blood glows.” Entrapta said.

“ Oh,... Is there blood in your teeth? Because they glow too!.”

“I don’t think so? I think they just transfer light well?”

“Do you drink people’s blood??”

“I.. what?? No!” Hordak was truly taken aback. “I don’t even like undercooked meat!”

The child had gotten out of her seat, and had crawled on the table towards him and Entrapta.  
“But you eat meat? Only meat? Are you a carnivore?”

“I eat more fruit than I do meat.” he said, backing away slightly.

“Why do your ears keep twitching? Are you doing that on purpose?”

He glanced over at Glimmer, hoping she might call this child to order, but in fact she had a rather satisfied grin on her face. Behind her, Shadow Weavers shoulders were shaking. “I’m not. It just happens. It’s part of my language.”

“But you’re not speaking your language? Oh, what does your language sound like, is it like, yelling or growling, or-”

<You talk too much, exuberant child> -irritation. <get back in your seat and stop asking so many questions. He started coughing as the last few clicks in the last word hurt his throat. Most of the princesses stared at him, their eyes widening from the strange, alien sounds that came from his throat.

“That was.. SO COOL.” Frosta exclaimed over his coughing, “Can you teach me to do that!? How did you make all those weird clicking noises?

Perfuma, who was sat near Entrapta took this moment of distraction to whisper to Entrapta

“So… you guys are.. Together?” she asked her, whispering very quietly in Entrapta’s ear. Hordak wouldn’t have heard it himself if his hearing wasn’t so keen.

Entrapta nodded.

“Ok. so.. Is he.. Proportionate?”

Someone - he wasn’t sure who- passed him a glass of water to drink, to calm his throat. Hordak took it and started taking several long gulps.

“He is.” Entrapta whispered back, looking nervously at Hordak. Her face was flushed bright red, but Hordak wasn’t sure why.

Perfuma glanced at Hordak quickly, but not at his face. “So… He’s a lot bigger than you.. How does all that- “

Hordak choked on his water as he quickly understood what she was asking and started coughing, his ears flicking down, burning blue. He was certain some water had gone up through his nose, but also certain that nobody noticed that. As he recovered, he glared at Perfuma, “You know I can hear you, yes?”

Perfuma turned red, and then fell silent. Hordak could hear Shadow Weaver chuckling,

“You could hear, “She said, mockingly, “But the rest of us couldn’t. You should really share your questions, Perfuma - anything could be important.”

“Trust me.” Hordak hissed, his ears burning, “It’s not important.”

“It’s… not not important… but not relevant?” Entrapta said hesitantly, “Maybe not…” She glanced at Frosta, “Suitable?”

“I don’t get it.” Frosta said, staring at them.

Next to Perfuma, Mermista leaned back in her chair, “From what I’ve just heard,” She said with a smirk, “it’s a big deal.” Great - she had overheard them.

Entrapta was clearly flustered, looking from Mermista to Perfuma, then up to Hordak. “Come on..” She said quickly, glancing at the table, “It’s really not necessary information, and Hordak is shy so-”

“I. Am. Not.” Hordak hissed.

“HI! Princess Netossa here,” another princess said as she gave Glimmer a quick smile. Hordak was glad for her sudden interruption until she asked her question. "why are you wearing a dress?”

Hordak blinked, taken aback, “Why not?”

“Uh.. well, dresses are generally traditional for women.”

“And yet most of you wear pants,'' He snapped.“It’s traditional for Etherians. I’m not an Etherian.” He frowned, He had been asked about his choice of clothing in his early days in Etheria, and honestly thought those days were over. “I don’t care about etherian traditions. Besides, this is comfortable.”

“And he looks good in it.” Entrapta said, nodding. Hordak felt his ears twitch again.

Frosta was still on the table, getting closer to Hordak, “Oh! Are you and Entrapta actually dating?”

Hordak Frowned, and didn’t speak.

“Uh...I wouldn’t say dating, since we don’t really do dates… but yes?” Entrapta said.

“Oooh, have you guys kissed?”

“They’ve done more than kiss, I think.” Mermista whispered to Perfuma, who put her face in her hands.

Hordak rubbed his temples, feeling his ears burn. This had simultaneously gone better and worse than he expected. He tried to console himself that the important stuff went well. “I… I really meant more, questions about the plan, about Horde Prime, and the plan.”

Mermista turned to Glimmer, “You’re going along with this plan?”

Glimmer sighed, “I am..”

“Do you really trust him?”

Glimmer looked at him, then to Mermista, “Trust isn’t necessary in this.” She said, “But I trust that he wants to take down Horde Prime more than he does us. And if we don’t work with him, I believe him when he says we won’t stand a chance.”

Hordak almost smiled, despite still feeling properly embarrassed at the various questions that had been thrown at him and Entrapta. Glimmer actually listened.

“Alright.” Mermista said, sitting back in her chair. “I’m in if you’re going with this.”

One by one, the other princesses gave their agreement. Frosta got back to her seat, but not before saying, “ooh, can I lead the charge?”

Hordak rubbed his temples. This would be slightly harder than he thought. But at the very least, everyone was going along with this. They had the assistance they needed.

“OK.” He said, leaning forward on the back on Entrapta’s chair, “Here’s what we do first.”


	21. Girl Talk

With what Hordak would have called impertinence and arguing, and what Glimmer called friendly debate, the first part of their plan was finalized and set into motion. 

They had to alter the polarity of the planet to keep Horde Prime from opening a portal immediately. This meant a trip north, past the Frozen Wastes. At first, Hordak had wanted to split into two teams, one to go to the Frozen Wastes, one to go back to the Fright Zone; It was better to get as much done at once as possible. 

This wouldn’t work. First, Entrapta and Hordak were both needed in the Fright Zone when they went, and they needed at least one scientist with them in the Frozen Wastes to make sure that things were being done right. As well, Mermista would be needed in both places - The map they had showed little else but water where they were going, so she’d be essential. 

They also couldn’t leave right away, which irritated Hordak. His work was limited at the moment by lack of equipment. All he could really do was brainstorm a way to get over all the issues his only very bad plan created, so he wanted to get his equipment, get his notes and data from the Fright Zone. He was sure in his attempts to clone a new body for himself, there was something he could use. 

Transportation was also a problem. The Carrier they’d been flying around in wouldn’t be able to take the cold so well, so they needed alternative transportation. Mermista said she could provide that, but the fixed looks some of the princesses gave her made Hordak worried. 

Hordak and Entrapta also didn’t yet have anything suitable to wear past the Frozen Wastes. Normally, Hordak would have brushed this off, a little discomfort wasn’t a problem. However, this was actually a problem more for Hordak himself than Entrapta. If he wanted to go to the Frozen wastes - and ‘wanted’ was a stretch, he’d not wait here while Entrapta went to the Wastes, and she’d not wait if he went so they’d both go - then he desperately needed something warm to wear. Hordak, and all the clones were designed for a lot. They could fight, move very quickly, swim very well, and survive comfortably in extremely hot temperatures and climates. Extremely cold climates on the other hand...

Yes. He’d need warm clothes. He’d have to talk to Morgana. 

As they left the meeting room, Entrapta didn’t even have a chance to talk to Hordak before Mermista and Perfuma were at her, pulling her away. 

“Hey, wait, where are we going?” He asked, slightly panicked as they pulled her away. 

“Girl talk!” Perfuma said. 

“We’ll bring her back in one piece.” Mermista said almost tauntingly to Hordak. 

Hordak felt his ears twitch. Girl talk was starting to become a very scary phrase to him. “Don’t you think there’s more important things to do!” He demanded. “We don’t have all that much time to prepare, we could - “

“Trust us, this is VERY important!” Perfuma said as they pulled Entrapta around a corner. 

“Ack! It’s ok Hordak!” Entrapra called back as they pulled her down the hallway. She waved at him with one of her pigtails, “I can be discreet, it’s fine!” 

“No you can’t!” Hordak said, a little more desperation in his voice than he’d have liked, but it was too late - they were already taking her away and short of chasing them down and fighting them to get Entrapta back(Which he was certain wouldn’t end well in the wider picture), there was little he could do. Hordak sighed, putting a hand to his face. 

There was chuckling from behind him. Great. Shadow Weaver. 

“Well.” She said, her voice almost teasingly informal, “I wish our meetings in the Fright Zone were more like that. I admit, It’s the most amused by you I’ve ever been.”    
  


“Yes yes.” Hordak said, hating more than ever in this moment that he couldn’t keep his ears from reacting as they did. “I’m sure you enjoyed every moment of it.”

“I did. Queen Glimmer did too. As did the rest of the princesses.” 

Hordak growled, and started to stalk away. 

“I don’t think you see the benefit of what just happened.” Shadow Weaver called after him. 

“What possible benefit could all of that have had.” He growled through gritted teeth. 

“Simple.” She said, “You’re not Lord Hordak anymore.”   
  


“Clearly.” He hissed. 

“What I mean.” She said patiently, as though she were explaining a simple concept to a child, “Before you stepped into that room, you were just Lord Hordak. Even to me, to be frank. Not a person, but a symbol of the Horde. Scaring them with tales of Horde Prime made a bigger monster, but in their eyes, you were still a monster, and the princesses don’t work with monsters.”

He frowned, angry because he was starting to see what she was saying. 

“Now you’re not.” She said, “Or not as much. You’re just Hordak now. A little humiliation, for lack of a better word, humanized you.”   
  


“And you think that’s a good thing?”

“In the Horde? No. It’s the worst thing in the Horde. But if you want these princesses to fight with you…” She trailed off. 

“Then they need to see me humiliated?”

“They need to see not a monster. Or at least something behind the monster. Bright Moon and the princesses are different than you’re used to, Hordak. What happened in there, even if you hated it, is going to make them more willing to listen to you, and work with you. To fight with you.” 

Hordak said nothing as he stalked off down the hall. There was a reason Shadow Weaver had been his second in command for so long, and even if he hated everything about this, she was right. 

“Let’s hope,” She called after him as he walked away, “That Entrapta has a bunch of cute stories to tell about you.”   
  


Hordak felt his ears flick, but he didn’t turn around. She did, that was the problem. 

\----------

One of the guards led him to see Morgana. Her atelier, as they called it, was in one of the towers of Bright Moon. They got to the a large pink door, and knocked. A voice from within called out “Come in.” And the guard opened the door, and let Hordak enter. 

Her atelier was very well organized. Shelves of various fabrics were organized by colour along one wall. Drawers all neatly labeled were along another, and one entire wall was covered in spools of thread that were likewise organized by color. In the center of the room was a big table, next to which were two mannequins, one about the shape and size of Entrapta, another roughly his size. 

Morgana was sitting at the table, back to him, working at something. “Morgana.” He said simply, walking towards her. She turned around suddenly.

It wasn’t Morgana. It looked a lot like her from behind, but her face was different, her human-like eyes were a different colour- almost purple, and they were wider, less serious. He glanced at the table where she was working. Amid scraps of fabric was Imp, wearing what looked to be some kind of frilly purple dress, eating strawberries, and looking very pleased with himself. 

Hordak had a lot of questions. 

“I’m not Morgana.” the girl said, smiling, “That’s my mother. I’m Jade.” Hordak nodded slowly, looking to Imp who simply stuck his tongue out at him. 

“And…. how did he get here?” Hordak asked, gesturing to Imp. 

“Oh, he came to visit when you went to the Whispering Woods. Mother made sleepwear for you and Entrapta, and he was snooping around, so I caught him and made him some too from the scraps.” She smiled at him as she finished pinning something along the end of the gown, “He’s letting me use him to practice, so long as I feed him, and he’s just SO CUTE!” She giggled as she scratched behind Imp’s ears, who chirped as he tilted his head.

“I see…” Hordak wasn’t sure why he was surprised. Imp was being fed and, from the looks of it, fawned over. Imp loved attention, and he seemed to be enjoying being Jade’s little model. 

“You’ve met my daughter then.” Morgana said as she walked in from a door off to the side. Hordak knew it was Morgana before turning, because her voice had that commanding tone to it. She strode in, looked at the work her daughter was doing, then moved a couple of pins around. “Yes, your little….” She looked at Imp, then to Hordak, “What is Imp, anyway? Your pet?”

Imp hissed. 

“No. Not a pet. An experiment.”

“A pet project then.” She said, “Yes, he’s been very helpful, and very cooperative.” She turned an accusatory look towards Hordak, who cleared his voice. 

“Yes, well.” he glanced aside, “Had I understood the actual quality of the work, I’d perhaps have been less hesitant to cooperate.” 

Morgana nodded, then went over to the fabrics. She crawled up the edge of the wall, looking through her supplies, “Well then. What brings you here. I’m told I must make something for the Wastes for you and Entrapta. I’m supposing you’re here to say that it’s not necessary, that you can take a little cold.”

Hordak hesitated, looking at the stacks of fabric in the wall. “Not… No, not quite.” 

“Oh, you’re actually going to cooperate and wear some basic winter gear? I figured you’d be like that Bow ; Icy cold temperatures and he still wants his midriff out.” 

“Bow?” Hordak asked, incredulous, his ears flicking slightly, “He goes out into the cold like that?!”

There was a slight hint of horror that crept into his voice. Morgana turned away from what she was looking at and gave him a hard, solid stare.

“Yes. Why?” 

Hordak sighed, glanced aside, and muttered quietly. 

Morgana sighed, “If you have something special you need or want, you have to tell me.” She snapped, “I’m not a mind reader.” 

“I… Will need significantly more warm clothing that what Bow wears.” he said slowly. “Significantly more.” 

She looked down at him, confused. Hordak gave a deep sigh as he walked towards the wall. “I am not made for cold weather. Literally, or figuratively.”

Morgana crawled down the wall, and stopped when she was level with Hordak, “So, you’re saying you need more… intense cold-weather clothes than I might have been intending to make for you.”   
  


“I need a thermal tent to hide in.” He said bluntly. “I need as little skin exposed to the air as possible-”

“But showing skin is so your style!” Morgana protested. 

“Maybe.” He said, his ears flicking, “But not freezing is more my style. I need as much of my face covered as possible, while still being able to see and breathe. I need my nose-”   
  


“What nose?”

“-I need my nose covered. I need my ears covered. I just..” He sighed, “I need to be as warm as possible. I don’t care what you make. I don’t care if it’s pink with flowers on it. If it’s warm, I’ll wear it.”

Morgana looked him up and down, then nodded. “Clearly, I’ll still try to make this look good as well, but for what you’re asking, I’ll be limited in that. But,I have a few ideas.” she said. She turned to walk back up the wall, picking through fabric, “I have all the measurements I need from the other day, so I’ll take care of it from here.” She looked down at him, “Don’t you worry. I’ll design something you can move in, that’ll keep you all nice and toasty warm.” 

Wordlessly, Hordak turned and left, very grateful that she seemed to know what she was doing.

\-------

Hordak headed back to Glimmer’s office after leaving Morgana. He had half expected her to be alone because he assumed everyone else was still talking to Entrapta, but he was wrong. 

Shadow Weaver, Bow, and Frosta were with her. The office still looked chaotic, disorganized, but it seemed that she did indeed take his advice to use Shadow Weaver - there was some evidence of organization, some papers had been slipped into folders which were being more neatly stacked on the table. Shadow Weaver stood at the desk, flipping through some papers while Bow and Glimmer were on the floor, picking through the papers that had been tossed there. Frosta was looking out the window pouting. 

“Hordak!” It was Glimmer who noticed him first. The other glanced up looking at him. “I didn’t expect you.” 

“Well, my research is mostly stalled for now, until I get more supplies and data.” he frowned and glanced from Shadow Weaver to Frosta, “And Entrapta was accosted by two of your fellow princesses-”   
  


“I know! It’s not fair!” Frosta complained, looking very put out, “They said I was too young to go with them.”

Hordak felt his ears flick, “Regardless, there’s better things we could be doing at this moment than gossiping.” He snapped, “We have worse than limited time. We have unknown time. “

“But we have to wait before we can go.” Glimmer said, “ You and Entrapta need stuff to not Freeze, Mermista has to wait for her ride to get into place, so -”

“Self-defense.” Hordak said simply. The lot of them stared at him.

“You mean you’re going to teach us how to fight!?” Frosta said, looking offended, “I already know how to fight.” 

Hordak looked at her, then to Glimmer, “Do you really let a child fight?”

“Hey!” Frosta snapped, “I’m a Princess too!” 

“Yes. But you’re a child. The alliance let’s children fight?”

“You have children in the fright zone.” Glimmer countered, “Adora grew up there-”

“Yes, but she didn’t -fight- outside of training until she was… what.” he turned to Shadow Weaver, “I believe the age was 18?”

“Yes, and I had to convince you that was late enough.” She said idly. 

“You said you were bred to be a soldier, right?” Glimmer said, confused, “So you must have fought when you were a kid.”   
  


“I wasn’t a ‘kid’ per se.” Hordak retorted. They all looked at him, very confused. Hordak sighed, “All the clones are kept in virtines for development until they’re mature. Essential information is implanted in this time, so we’re adults when we’re released.” 

“So.. you were never a kid? You didn’t have a childhood?” Bow asked. “That’s… That’s super sad.” 

Hordak sighed, glancing around at the others. Glimmer herself seemed a little shocked, but to his surprise, Frosta just looked away, staring out the window. 

Odd. 

“That’s not the point right now.” He said. He’d drop it for now. Frosta could learn how to defend herself, just in case. “The point is, yes, you might know some combat, but you don’t know how to fight me, or clones of me. I doubt you’d be able to manage, but there’s a few... Things I can teach you all that might encourage survival. I’d be doing that now If half of you weren’t off gossiping. 

Glimmer nodded, and turned to Bow, “He’s right.” she said, “Can you find them? Tell them we need to have another meeting.” She turned to Hordak, “What will you need.” 

“Just a room with a lot of space.” He said. He was about to teach a bunch of young princesses how to beat him up and toss him around if he did this right. Last thing he needed was to be tossed into a wall. 

\-----

  
“So do I get to fight you!?” 

Hordak sighed, and gently pinched between his eyes. Frosta was very enthusiastic, and if she was a little older he’d be pleased at her willingness to learn. Unfortunately, she was a child, and apparently one that was going to be fighting with him. 

“No. No you’re not.” Hordak said, irritated. He looked to Adora, “Forc- Adora.” He said gesturing, “You have basic combat. Come here.” 

She walked towards him slowly, slightly hesitant. “Do you want -me- to fight you?”

“Not quite. I wish to make a point.” He grinned, If she really wanted to fight him, she wouldn’t have much chance - even though the armor around his arms was off at the moment, just to help show some tricks. “incapacitate me.” 

“What?”

“Grab me. If you were going to try to restrain me, how would you?” She frowned as she got closer, “I’m not going to fight, just do it.” he said. 

Adora frowned as she walked up behind him.”Can you kneel down then? You’re kinda… tall.” 

Hordak suppressed a grin as he went down to one knee, allowing Adora to grab his arms in a basic arm bar behind him. 

“Good.” He said, “That feels right. And this should hold most Etherians. However..” He twisted his arms, his forearms twisting around entirely at his elbows, his hands collapsing inwards forming narrow points. He didn’t even have to try after that, Adora let go of him with a disgusted yelp.

“Ugh. Oh god.. What even was that. “ She turned away, making a disgusted face as she shook her hands. Hordak held his twisted arms and narrow hands up towards the princesses. 

“Clearly.” he said, standing up to his feet, “normal grabs won’t work, however,” He turned to Perfuma, who he imagined to be likely the physically weakest of the princesses, he held his arms out to her, “Slip your fingers into the gaps of my arms, and hold the inner bones together. You should be able to do it with one hand.” 

Hesitantly, she followed his orders. 

“Like this, I’m not even going to try to escape.” He said, looking at his arms, “I can’t rotate my arms, and if I struggle too much, I’m likely to break something. Having said that… I don’t recommend this as as front grab.” She let go of him quickly as he said that. “I can still defend myself if you grab me from the front. Best thing to do is get me on my stomach.” He gestured to his still covered legs, “There’s similar gaps on the calves that can be held in the same way. If you get a clone down, and you for whatever reason can’t kill it, hold it by the arms and legs like that. Tie it up if you can.”

“But won’t they all be wearing armor?” Frosta asked, frowning. 

“Most likely.” Hordak said, “But the armor will slow them down, and limit their movements. They’ll still be stronger and faster, but you can worry about disabling the armor in that case. No, your biggest challenge will be facing one without armor. We’re faster, we move differently, and things you’d do to attack normal Etherians won’t work.” 

“So how do we get your kind down to grab them?” Mermista asked. “I doubt they’ll just let us grab them.”

“They won’t.” Hordak agreed. “Frosta, I hate to say, has a slight advantage.” He glanced at the young ice princess. “We don’t do well in the cold. That will slow us down significantly. If it’s cold enough, a clone might have a few minutes before their body just starts to shut down.”

“It’ll kill them?” Frosta asked. 

“Eventually.” He said, “But first they’ll just shut down to preserve energy. They’ll slow.” He looked at the others, “Outside of that, drowning likely won’t work. Vines can be easily broken, and arrows -” He glanced at Bow, “Can be grabbed mid-air more or less.” He paced around, “Likely, in armor, they’re just going to use basic weapons. Out of armor, unarmed however,” He flexed his fingers, Extruding his long, black, bladed claws, “This is most likely what’s going to be used.” 

“Just claws?” Netossa asked, skeptical. 

“His claws are a strange material that I’ve not seen before, and unfortunately have resisted any attempts of mine to take a sample.” Entrapta said, walking up to him. He had managed to speak to her briefly before this, and ask her to bring an iron bar from their collection of scraps. She threw it at him as fast and hard as she could. With almost a lazy swipe, he sliced it as it came towards him, breaking it into two larger pieces, and three very small pieces that had slipped through his fingers as they were sliced by the claws.

“So, yes, just claws. Stay away from the claws if possible. Fight dirty. Grab the hair and ears, that - will- hurt.” 

“So, avoid the claws, but get right in the face. Yes, that’ll work -just- fine.” Mermisa said. 

“Your sarcasm is noted.” Hordak said, “And yes, most of the weaker spots are around the head. Under the chin is particularly bad too. However, despite the claws, The hands are generally weaker.” He held up his hand again, collapsing it to the disgust of the princesses. “There’s a series of joints in the middle of the hand that allows this.” He explained, “And if you jab the very center of the hand, a clone will go down.” He suppressed a sigh. “And one of you is going to do it now.”

“But.. it’s going to hurt.”

“Yes. Yes it will. And we’re going to do it over and over again until you can incapacitate me at full speed.” He looked at each of them, then to Entrapta; he had already shown her how to do this, just in case. “Entrapta going to demonstrate the easiest way to take me down.” He hated showing them this, but at the very least it wasn’t a personal weakness of his, just a weakness of his entire race. 

It felt like betrayal, despite the fact that he had been abandoned. He didn’t know why. 

He flexed his fingers, and ran at Entrapta, claws out as if he was really going to attack her. Entrapta kept her hair back, and when he got close enough, she smacked the very center of his palm with her fist just as he was bringing his hand down to take a swipe. 

The result was instantaneous. Despite himself he felt a strangled noise, somewhere between a squeak and a yelp escaped his mouth as the pain revibrated up his arm and down his spine, making him go numb all over while his vision went white. In that moment, Entrapta grabbed him by the hand she had punched, took him as he was doubling over, and tossed him over her shoulder and to the ground. He felt the air rush out of him as he struck the floor. 

He wasn’t surprised. He had made sure Entrapta knew how to do this. 

As he gasped for air, he felt himself flipped over, and his arms pinned behind him, grabbed like he had shown her.

“The clones are also a bit top heavy.” She explained as she let Hordak go, helping him up to a sitting position. “If they double over, you can toss them. If they land directly on their back, you’ll knock the air out of them.” 

Hordak sat up, gasping for air as she explained. He had gone slowly, so they could see, but he’d increase his speed until they caught up. 

He was finally able to take a full breath of air. Shaking slightly, and his hand still feeling numb, he stood to his feet. He rubbed his palm as he let the dancing stars in his eyes fade away. 

“OK.” He finally said when his arm felt mostly normal. He looked at the princesses. He’d have to get each of up to a point where that action was almost reflexive. It was going to be a long, very unpleasant day. 

“Who’s next.” 

  
  
  



	22. Trying

The last princess to manage the takedown properly was Perfuma, and she on her own had taken an entire hour to figure it out. Her biggest problem seemed like she just wasn’t trying, or just couldn’t hit his hand hard enough. 

Frustrated, Hordak turned away from her, “No wonder we got so much ground in the forest until you had She-ra to fight for you.” He snarled, “You’re too weak to fight for yourself. If this is the best you can do, you’d best go back to your forest- We don’t need you.” 

“I won’t leave my friends!” She snapped back. 

“Why not. It’s the best thing you could do. That way they don’t have to chase around and babysit you.” He pointed at Frosta, “She’s a child-“

“I’m here you know.”

“And she managed this within ten minutes! No. You’ll cause more trouble than you’re worth. Go back to your forest and hide while Prime takes over your trees. Maybe he’ll find you too pathetic to kill-“

“Hordak,” Entrapta cut in, “That’s not necessary, she-“

“Of course it’s necessary. If she can’t do this, then she’s useless. Worse than useless- she’ll hold us back.”

“I’ll not have you talk about her like that.” Glimmer said, taking a step forward, “She’s helped us so many times, she-“

“But if she’s on her own, she can’t do anything it seems. If she gets caught, she dies, or she’s held by Prime to get you to surrender.” He snarled at her, “No, I have no need for you. You’re weak, you’re useless, you’re-“

“I am not weak!” She shouted at him, she was crying now. 

“Clearly you are!” He yelled as he took a step forward, his hand open, coming down to slap her, his claws out. 

He never hit her. She managed to hit his hand hard enough - more than hard enough, in fact. The pain shook through his body as he doubled over. She grabbed his arm, and threw him with all her might, tossing him to the ground. 

His breath was knocked from his chest. His vision swam. When it back back. She was standing over him, still crying, looking very angry. He coughed, gasped, then pointed at her. 

“Like that.” He managed to squeak - he was still breathless. “Keep that rage, and hit just like that.” He winced his eyes shut, and let his trembling hand fall across his chest, “But you should have bound me.”

It didn’t matter. The takedown was the most important thing. 

“You… what?” Perfuma said, confused and sniffling above him. 

“I think he was pushing your buttons.” Entrapta said to the stunned princess, “Figuratively speaking, of course. You have no buttons.” 

Eyes still closed, Hordak nodded. His breath came back to him, and he staggered to his feet. His back ached from being tossed around half the afternoon, his right arm still felt numb, and he had a headache.

“I think that’s enough beating up on Hordak for now.” Entrapta said, going to his side to help him up. 

“That’s fine for now.” He said. He didn’t have years to train them as he’d otherwise like, “If this is all done right, you won’t need to fight directly, but it’s better to be prepared.” He hissed in pain. His back really hurt. 

Spinerella went up to Perfuma, who was still crying and angry, and led her out of the room. The others left after her. Glimmer, Bow, Frosta, and Adora stayed behind. 

“We can really beat up the Horde now!” Frosta said, grinning broadly, “I took down Hordak with my bare hands!” 

Hordak and Entrapta exchanged a glance. He was tempted to point out that he had still, to a point, allowed them to do that. He had gone slow enough that they could react, and hadn't been trying to actually hurt them. 

In the end, he said nothing. After the day he had, there was little enough of his ego left to salvage, and the increase in morale might prove useful. 

Glimmer looked at Hordak with her arms crossed, and raised a brow at him. “Are you even going to be ok to go past the frozen wastes tomorrow?” She asked. He nodded. 

“Yes. I just… this is nothing. A few hours of sleep and I’ll be fine.” 

“You slept half the day yesterday to recover, won’t you need-“

“I did real damage to myself then. I wrecked my vocal chords, my ears, my eardrums.. everything associated with my ears. That’s delicate, and takes time to recover. This is just some bruising.” He flexed his hand, hoping to get the numbness to go away. It had started when Glimmer had taken her turn to try to take him down, and to be blunt, she threw a lot more into her strike than he had expected. 

Hordak stood up and rubbed his shoulder. A strand of Entrapta’s hair was at his hand, “We’ll head back to our room.” She said, “Get some rest, and -“

“Oh!” Bow. Looked like he had suddenly forgotten something, “Right! Dinner!”

Hordak quirked his brow at him. 

“We’re having dinner tonight. All of us. All the Princesses.” The way Glimmer was looking at Bow, he wondered if he wasn’t supposed to let them know. He felt a sudden rush of rage in him - not because of the potential snub to himself, but for Entrapta. They had left her in the Fright Zone, and if they believed her dead or not, that still hurt her and this wasn’t going to make anything better.

Entrapta answered before he did. “Well, I’d like to make some adjustments to Hordak’s suit before the day is up, and that might take hours, so we should really get at that.” 

Hordak frowned and turned to tell her that she should have mentioned that earlier, but before he could she had her hair around his waist, and was pulling him towards the door. “But if i get that done, we’ll see.” 

They left the remaining princesses in silence, but if it was from Entrapta’s reaction, or from seeing her drag him around, Hordak wasn’t sure. 

———-

When they were down the hall a little, being followed by two guards, Hordak spoke up, “You should have said that you wanted to adjust my armor.” He said, “I’d have found you before all the -“

“Well, I do want to look at your armor, see if I can figure out a way to reduce the glitching, but that won’t take long.” She said. 

He looked down at her, confused. “Then you don’t want to go to this thing? I thought you enjoyed parties.”

“Parties I like, Dinner parties, I don’t. Everyone has to sit around and make normal conversation, and nobody listens to anything I have to say most of the time. I feel like I’m a little kid stuck eating with the adults, even though I’m older than -all- of them. It’s not so bad if I can wander around. But stuck in one place the whole time.” She shook her head, “Besides, I don’t think they want me there.” 

Hordak had hoped she wouldn’t pick that up as well. “I think it was more me.” He said, “I imagine a dinner party with the former Lord of the Horde would be an… awkward thing at best.” He glanced down at her, she still seemed sad. 

“Besides,” He added idly, “I don’t own any suits to wear to it.”

Entrapta gave a sudden laugh which ended in a snort that was music to Hordak’s ears. They made their way back to their room. Entrapta helped Hordak out of his armor, setting it down on her workbench. “You should rest” She said as she grabbed her tools with her hair, “The more you rest, the better you’ll be tomorrow.”

Hordak shook his head, and pulled a chair up next to her, “I want to work on this too.” He said, “If I don’t have something to work on, I’ll go insane in here.”

“You could look through the disc Bow brought you.” 

She caught his expression as he looked aside quickly. “You don’t want to?” She asked. 

He didn’t want to look over it alone, that was the problem. If Entrapta was there with him, next to him, he felt a little better, but on his own going over all that data was still overwhelming. His stomach twisted itself in knots when he looked at the disc. He felt like he was afraid of it, but he didn’t know why. 

“I’d rather not, right now.” Was all he said. He felt her hair around his face as she turned him to look at her. 

“Hordak.” She said, “Tell me what’s wrong.” 

He frowned, wanting to pull away from her hair, but he couldn’t. 

“I don’t know.” He said after a moment, “That’s the problem.” 

Entrapta let her hair loosen around his face. Hordak didn’t look away, but looked down at her gloved hands instead, “I don’t know. I just don’t feel right when I think about going through that disc.”

“You feel its’ wrong to-“

“No.. not morally right.” He said, “I feel sick when I think of it. I have trouble breathing, and I just feel…” He thought about it for a moment, then shook his head, “I don’t know. Just not right.” 

Entrapta nodded, “But you felt ok when we looked at it together?” She asked. He nodded. “Ok. We’ll look through it together then.” She gave him a smile. 

Hordak felt relieved, but his ears also bent back in shame, “It’s stupid.” He muttered, “I need to learn what’s on it. I need to go through it, but-“

Entrapta frowned, then said, “What if you just looked through the cultural stuff?”

Hordak tilted his head at her, “That won’t have what I need, It-“

“It may not have the scientific information we need, but you’ll get something from the stories, and maybe if you’re confused about something we can look up the information together? That way you’re not just doing research, you’re getting… well, I imagine a bunch of stories, honestly. Maybe that’ll distract you from the fact that we’re looking over scientific documents about what you are?”

Hordak stared at her for a moment, then leaned in and kissed her suddenly, taking her by surprise. 

“You’re brilliant.” He said, “And I love you.” 

Entrapta smiled, letting her hair hide half her face, “Well, I try. And I love you too.” 

————-

The cultural part of the disc was filled with music. Even things that Hordak thought wouldn’t be music, like histories and political records were put to music. There were plays that were all musicals. All the stories that were included in the files were put to song. 

“I’ve learned something.” He said to Entrapta.’

“What’s that?” She was deep into her work with his armor, tinkering at the new power source while Hordak was sat at his own workbench, going through the disc

Hordak made a noise in his own language. “That’s .. I guess Chilacian. The word doesn’t have an exact translation in most other languages, but it’s something between “song” or “story.” Etymology wasn’t anything that we were really taught in depth in the Horde, but I always figured we only had one word for both because they weren’t that important. But I was wrong.” He clicked on a file, and a song started playing, a simple tune at first, growing into a dramatic melody as a single Chilacian voice rang out, three voices from one throat in harmony, one higher, one lower, and one mid-tone to balance it out as they sang about the rise of a Chilacian city. 

“All the stories in Chilacian culture are songs.” He said. 

He let the music play. He could understand the narrative despite missing some context at times, and even if Entrapta couldn’t understand the lyrics, he hoped she’d enjoy listening. 

Hordak was captivated. The music was beautiful, soaring, diving. It was a living thing, and though his language didn’t have any intonation on it’s own, the melody added that somehow. He found himself lost in the music as Entrapta worked away. 

“That sounds really sad.” She said eventually. Hordak had quite lost track of time, and he suddenly noticed that the notepad he had to scribble down any important information was empty. He had been taken in entirely by the music. 

Entrapta looked at him, “Are you ok?” 

“Yes, Why?”

“You’re breathing harder than normal.” 

Hordak shook his head, “Emotional response.” He admitted, “It is sad.” 

Entrapta went back to her work, “Can you tell me what’s happening in the song? I wish I could learn to understand your language.” 

Hordak paused the music, and looked at her, “You know.” He said Idly, “You’ll never be able to speak it, and you’ll never be able to understand it face to face, not with proper context… but if we were able to enhance your hearing, you might be able to listen to this.” 

Entrapta turned away from her work, and looked at him, her eyes wide, “You’ll teach me then?” 

“I can teach you to listen” He admitted, “To speak it, you’d need to be able to click like I do, and be able to inhale and exhale at the same time. And with music, you wouldn’t have to learn the … intricaitices of reading ears.” 

“Reading ears.” She grinned at him, “Is it really that-“

Before she could finish her question there was a knock on the door. Entrapta shot her hair out to answer it. Glimmer and Shadow Weaver entered. 

“You two should come to dinner.” Glimmer said. 

“I don’t think we’ll be missed.” Entrapta said, putting her goggles back down and going to her work. 

Glimmer looked properly shocked as she looked from Entrapta, to Hordak. 

“I’m certain at the very least my presence would make people uncomfortable.” Hordak said.

“But that’s why you need to be there.” Glimmer insisted, looked at Shadow Weaver, who nodded, “We need to get used to you.The others need to get used to you.”

“I’m sorry.” Hordak said flippantly, “I thought my humiliation this morning with the excessive questioning about myself, and my personal life, followed by Entrapta’s further questioning afterwards was enough to get them over their fear of me. Not to mention the consecutive beatings I took to teach you all how to defend yourselves against me.” He almost admitted he had been holding back then, but didn’t.

“So..” Entrapta said quietly, “You’re only asking us to come for tactical reasons.” 

Hordak was taken aback by the hurt in her voice. She was still working, her hands never stopping, but she sounded empty. Hordak felt the rage well up in him. 

“No! I mean..” Glimmer signed, and looked at Hordak, “Maybe with him.” Glimmer admitted, “But.. Bow and Adora, everyone wants you to be there too.” 

“And you?”

There was a beat of silence that lasted just a little too long. 

“Of course I -“

“I’m not stupid.” Entrapta said, “Don’t lie to me.” 

Hordak saw Glimmer’s expression change to one of fury, 

“Well how could I!” She suddenly snapped, “My mother is gone! She’s gone! Because of that thing you and Hordak built! I’ve been trying to play nice, I’ve been trying to do things right, but do you have ANY idea how hard that is when I-“

“I didn’t want to turn it on.” Entrapta said, still not looking up from her work, “Catra tased me before I could warn Hordak what was going to happen. If we had known-“

“Adora tried to tell him!” 

“Of course she’d try to tell me not to do it.” Hordak said confused. “Would you listen to me if I told you never to use your runestone again?” 

She gave him an impressive glare. 

“Catra knew exactly what opening the portal would have done.” Ebtrapta said, “She knew it would bring about destruction. She’s the one who threw the switch. We built the portal, but not for that.” 

Glimmer took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, “I know.” She said, “And I’m trying, but I see you, I see him-“ She pointed to Hordak, “And I'm reminded that my mother is dead, and I’m working with the people who helped kill her.” She turned around, and started to leave, “The others really do want you there, Entrapta..” she trailed off, as thought she was about to say something else, then left. Shadow Weaver lingered behind her for a moment. Entrapta focused on her work. 

“She’s young.” Shadow Weaver said to Hordak, “And she’s grieving. But you should come. You need to get the other princesses as used to you as possible.”

“You just want to see me suffer.”

“Maybe. I’m in a suffering mood because someone insisted that Queen Glimmer put me to work.” She turned, and left after giving them both a little nod.

After the door shut, Hordak watched Entrapta carefully. She was still working with her goggles down. He got up, and stood behind her, his hand on her shoulder. 

“Entrapta?”

She lifted her goggled, and looked up at him- looking madder than Glimmer did. 

“She’s just looking for someone to blame!” She snapped, “She can blame Catra then.” She looked back at the computer, “We were just doing science! We were creating advances! She’s just… Just..” She waved her hands before her, “Short sighted! We can’t be blamed for how this all turned out! We didn’t even know that portal was going to destroy reality, and-” She turned around to Hordak, pointing at him, “I tried to stop it when I found out, and if you knew, you’d not have opened it.” 

“I didn’t open it at all.” He said. “I admit, I hesitated to activate it at all, but then everything…. Happened.” 

Entrapta nodded and kept working. Hordak stayed with his hand on her shoulder. 

After a moment, Entrapta said softly, “I didn’t want that to happen.” Her hands stilled, and Hordak saw a tear on her cheek. 

Hordak hesitated, and knelt down behind her, wrapping his arms around her. This is what she’d do if he was upset, “Catra.” He said firmly, “Is the one who ignored your advice, all your information, and went ahead and turned on the portal. You were going to stop it. You tried to warn everyone.” 

Entrapta nodded, and wrapped her hair around him, holding him tightly. 

  
  
  



	23. Dinner Party

Surprisingly, Hordak was used to dinner parties. At least, he had been. Back when he was not just a general, but _ The _ General, he had attended several alongside Horde Prime. He normally found them needless affairs, having a meal laid out like that, making conversation, several courses, it was a waste of time, in his mind. 

But essential, Horde Prime had told him when he brought up these concerns. Some of these lesser races took great stock in such frivolities, and being able to perform properly at one would be a skill he’d have to master. Which of course Hordak did. He could take a few hours being polite, making conversation, and making sure he ate with the right spoon if he had to. 

Entrapta on the other hand, didn’t believe that such things were necessary. 

“They never seemed to bother with me if I was around before.” She said, picking at her Data Pad. “Do you know who I ended up spending most of my time with at the last All Princess Ball?”

“I… Do not?” Hordak said slowly, wondering if this would be something he’d have to attend in the future. 

“Catra, of all people! Catra!” She leaned back sighing, “I went alone, thinking I’d hang out with the other princess, but The other princess hardly spoke to me. Of course, I was used to this, I normally just hung back and observed, but still! I…” She went back to her computer, and put her mask down, “I thought it’d be different, since I knew people now.” 

“This isn’t the All-Princess ball.” Hordak said, “It’s a dinner party.” 

“I didn’t think you’d be for it.”

“‘For it’ is an exaggeration.” Hordak said dryly, “I … acknowledge its importance in terms of diplomacy, and securing what is clearly a tenuous and fragile alliance.” 

Entrapta didn’t move from her position, but her hair did twitch slightly. 

“Besides.. you won’t be going alone.” Hordak twitched his ears as he remembered something that the child Frosta had said. He wasn’t much interested in the social etiquette of Etherian romance, but he wondered if he might be able to cheer up Entrapta if he put a different spin on this.

Hordak felt his ears flick down, and looked around the room. Imp was back, having eaten quite a lot of fruit. He had been so bloated when he crawled back that he allowed Entrapta to put him in the onesie that Morgana had made for him. She commented that he looked like a little doll in it. 

Imp was glaring at him, drawing a sigh from Hordak. Feeling just a little foolish- surly he was past this at this point, feeling embarrassed by doing something that Entrapta would later dub “Cute’ or “Adorable”, but here he was. 

Hordak knelt down next to her “Entrapta.” He said softly, his mouth close to her ear, “Would you…” He hesitated for a moment before he felt a pillow hit his back. He glared back at Imp who stuck his tongue out at him. 

He had never asked anyone out before. He never thought it would be something that he’d have to do. He wondered if Entrapta had ever been asked out before. Was that important? He wasn’t sure. 

“If… I were to ask you out on a date, would that be foolish?” He finally asked sheepishly. 

Entrapta finally raised her mask, and looked at him, a brow raised, “You’re going to use the dinner party as an excuse for a date?”

The dinner party wouldn’t be enough. No, if this was going to be their first date, their first official date - there were several instances in the past he could think of that might qualify from what he’d heard and read, then he wanted to make it special. 

“Well, first we go to dinner, and try to ignore the other princesses.” He knew that he couldn’t actually do that, but hoped they’d leave them relatively alone, “Then maybe a stroll around the castle. There’s lots of libraries here, I’m sure there’d be some nice first ones information in some of them. Lots of Data to be had.”

Entrapta let a little smile cross over her face. 

“Then maybe we can go over some diagrams for a new laser attachment for my armor.” He suggested. It was something Entrapta had been thinking about before everything fell apart in the Fright Zone.

Entrapta gave a small, sad smile, “So the date starts after dinner?”

Hordak frowned, “No.. I figured it’d start once we left the room.”

“And… we’d just not act like it’s a date during dinner?”

“I … Fully admit that I don’t know how I’d act differently during a date than I would around you normally. Why?”

“If people are on a date they’re normally…” Entrapta flicked her mask down, “Uhh… more outwardly romantic, I think. Well… you’d be embarrassed, yes?”

In truth, yes. He found this whole courting thing to be a little embarrassing when under scrutiny from the other princesses, but he had a feeling which really came from the meeting earlier, and the “Girl Talk” that Entrapta had been dragged off to afterwards that made him realize that this was going to be part of his life now.

Besides that, if a little embarrassment, and the princesses gawking at him was what he had to pay to see Entrapta happy, that was a small price. 

“No more than I have been the rest of this time.” He said. His ears caught the sound a frustrated hiss behind him.

“You… don’t have to.” She said, “Let them know it’s a date, I mean.”

Hordak was entirely confused now. She seemed sad again, and he didn't know why. 

“Why wouldn’t I want to?” He asked, “If I end up doing this “dating” thing - a silly Etherian thing to be blunt-then there’s nobody else I'd rather endure this with than you.” 

Another pillow to the back of his head, and the sound of a palm hitting a face. Thankfully though, Entrapta smiled, and laughed. 

“You’re right.” She said, “It is silly… Let’s have fun with it!” 

————

The guards led them to the dining room a little later. During the walk Entrapta had her hair wrapped around his hand, almost up to the edge of his armor. When they approached the door, she slowly, reculantly, let her hair slip away from him. 

Hordak, with his ears tilted back and slightly blue, bent over slightly, and took her hand in his. He didn’t often do this, even he knew that he could do more when it came to initiating affection, but… Was it shyness? Entrapta’s comment from earlier was rattling in his head a little. He wasn’t sure, he didn’t think he was shy - it was never something that had been used to describe him before. 

Besides that, he knew Entrapta wasn’t looking forward to this, knew the other princesses would be judging them, judging her. If they thought there was something wrong with Entrapta, or thought that she wasn’t worth their time that was entirely their problem, but he would not let Entrapta feel rejected or alone so long as he was around. 

He opened the door, and Hand in hand they walked into the half-full dining room. They weren’t the last ones there, Bow, Adora, Glimmer, Shadow Weaver, and Mermista were already there and seated. Behind him, Hordak could hear other people making their way, so he led Entrapta in, pulled out a chair for her to sit down, and gently pushed it into the table once she had. 

To his delight, this made her smile, and brought the colour to her cheeks.

He grinned as he took his seat next to her, at the far end of the table. Pointedly ignoring the mock gagging of Princess Mermista. 

“I’m surprised you decided to come.” Glimmer said as Perfuma and Frosta came after them. Frosta irritatingly took a seat next to Hordak, leaving Perfuma to hesitate before sitting next to her. There were two more seats left, Hordak assumed for Princess NEtossa, and princess SPinerella. 

“Well, your invitation was so heartfelt and sincere, how would we refuse.” Hordak said dryly. Entrapta looked down at the place setting in front of her. Hordak let his leg brush against hers under the table, getting a stifled grin from her as the other princesses came in, arm in arm. 

“I suppose they’re treating this as a date too.” Hordak said, keeping his tone as careless and level as he could, trying to ignore the twitch of his ears. 

“You guys are on a date?” Frosta asked, looking over at Entrapta. Entrapta nodded quickly, but didn’t look up. 

Maybe she didn’t want this to be a date, Hordak thought. Maybe he had entirely miscalculated. Maybe she wanted to pretend like it wasn’t when they came to dinner. 

Once they were all seated, Glimmer rang a little bell that was near her seat. Instantly, several servants came in, each of them with bowls of identical soup. Hordak’s soup was different though, served in a different coloured bowl. 

Bow noticed Hordak’s glance at the bowls, “I let the kitchen know about what you can eat. They made special dishes for you, and they’re being served in different colored plates, so they don’t get mixed up. 

Hordak nodded, and took a taste. Slightly nutty. Not awful, but all he needed was a taste anyway. Entrapta was more playing with her food than anything else. His stomach dropped. Was he doing something wrong? Had he said something he shouldn’t have? Should he not have taken her hand. 

His stomach felt queasy. 

The other princesses were starting to chat amongst themselves. He was grateful that aside from the odd stare they were leaving him alone, but he also knew that Entrapta wasn’t happy with it. Or was it with him. 

He leaned forward. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he could distract her, “I was thinking about the add on for my armor.” He said, his voice low, “What if, instead of laser blasts, we could do something with Anti-matter. I’ve always wanted to experiment more with anti-matter.”

That did it. Entrapta turned towards him, ignoring her soup, her hair perking up, “Ohhh, that’s a great idea, but it’s dangerous. I mean, of course, the lasers would be dangerous too, SCIENCE is dangerous, but without risk, there’s no reward right? I think.-”

She could have been talking about the symbolism of flowers, or a poem he’d never heard or read before, he realized. He understood what she was saying, and as always found himself impressed with her ideas, but when she lit up list this, when she got so excited when she started giggling over the more adventurous ideas, the possibilities, when her hair did that little poof thing, it didn’t matter what she was saying, he could listen to her for hours. 

At least he could if he was alone. 

The soup was taken away, another course served, interrupting them, and they realized that the rest of the Princesses were watching them. 

“That’s almost sickening.” Mermista said, but there was a lightness to her voice. 

“What is.” Hordak said, his eyes narrowing as he glared at her.

Mermista smirked, “Your expression.” She said, smirking, “When you were watching Entrapta just now. It was…” She turned and looked to Glimmer. “How would you have described that?” 

Hordak let his eyes glance over Glimmer and Adora, who looked very confused, and Bow, who had his damned hands up to his face, his eyes basically sparkling. “It was so cute!” 

Hordak felt his ears flick down. Cute was not a way he was described. Ever. 

“Like he was looking at the loveliest thing in the world.” Perfuma said, almost dreamily. Frosta mocked a gag. 

Entrapta had her hair in front of her face, her cheeks red. Hordak frowned. 

“If the lot of you can’t see how amazing Princess Entrapta is, then that’s really a failing on your behalf. I thankfully, am not so blinded by what I assume to be your social expectations and societal norms that I can’t see actual perfection when it’s before me. Had you perhaps treated Entrapta how she deserved to be treated for how perfect she is, perhaps she’d not have stayed with the Horde. Though, we did have better technology, and unlike the rest of you small minded fools, Entrapta can see the value in scientific advancement.”

There was a long moment of silence. The wait staff had stopped, and was staring at him. 

“That was the most romantic evil dialogue I’ve ever heard.” Bow gasped

Hordak nearly slumped in his chair - he didn’t- and sighed. He felt Entrapta wrap a strand of hair around his wrist, which at least got a suppressed smile from him. 

“So. You said this was a date.” Frosta said, looking at him seriously, “Why choose your first dinner party for your first date? They’re boring.” 

Hordak nearly smirked, “I do agree. But this is -not- my first such gathering.” 

“It’s not?” Mermista asked, quirking up a brow, “I can’t imagine your going to dinner parties. I’m here, seeing you at a dinner party, and I still can’t imagine it. When did you go to dinner parties? I’ve never heard of you dining with any other kingdoms.” 

“Well. It was a long time ago.” Hordak said, huffing, “Before I was here.” 

\--------

Planet Designation Sol-Dogma-5, known by the locals as “Shi’ri” had surrendered to the Horde after a relatively long war, and a particularly hard loss during a space battle near their closest nebula.The planet’s emperor had been executed, along with his family. His advisor had taken on the position as the new Regent, of course under the guidance of another clone. The advisor had decided to treat this as a celebration, and had a large feast to celebrate Shi’ri’s joining with the Intergalactic empire. 

That’s normally how to was phrased afterwards. 

Every now and again, Hordak- At this point known as Alpha- would attend one of these parties to be a further representative, and of course to keep an ear out, and listen. This one party in particular was with another general, Gamma. Her preferred to be referred to in private though as DH, based off his call number, 70h67. Ideally, they’d be seperated, but they had been sat next to one another by their hosts. 

DH frowned at his food. “-Irritation- Disappointment- <<I think this might have those awful eggs in it.>> “ he said to Hordak, “<<-Disgust- How can one eat these things.>>”

“-Disgust-Resignation- << No Idea. Don’t try to eat it. It’ll make you sick. I ate a similar dish on Sol-Hart-7. I thought I’d die.>>

DH sighed, his ears twitching in irritation as he took up the glass before him, and sniffed it before drinking. 

“Do you not the noodles?” The Shi’rian asked. Hordak cleared his throat. 

“We simply do not eat much.” Hordak admitted. In truth, it’d be nothing to perhaps ask for something more aligned with their particular needs, but it’d be bad to let them know that they could be made sick so easily. 

<<I may be sick>> DH muttered. Hordak attempted to relax his brows, lifting them slightly which was how to Shi-rians expressed contentment, though he knew it was a stiff expression coming from him, and that they found they way his people spoke to be disconcerting. 

<<Don’t>>. - resolve - irritation - << Don’t let yourself be seen so weak.>>

<<It’s not a weakness. Eggs, of all things, -horror- I’m amazed that they don’t have babies trussed up on the table, roasted and sweetened.>>

-sarcasm- << I think their young would be too boney to provide a meal.>>

“Sorry?” The person across from them was furrowing their brows. Hordak couldn’t exactly remember what that meant, but he knew it was a bad thing. 

<<-embarrassment- frustration- anger- <<Speak common, DH.>> He snapped, << WE need to be polite.>> He cleared his throat again, “Yes, beg pardon. We were just complementing the visual quality of the meal, and lamenting that we couldn’t possibly manage to eat something so filling.” 

-Amusement- <<You’re lying to them?>>

“My comrade here laments that you can’t understand our language fully, he struggles with common from time to time.”

-amusement- <<they can’t read ears. They don’t even try. I could tell them the moon is the size of an egg, and they’d not know i was joking. They’d probably try to cook it.>>

There was a particular flicker of DH’s ears as he gave a low chuckle, which Hordak stifled with a quick stomp to his foot. 

“I apologize for his rudeness. I’ll ensure he speaks common now.” Hordak insisted. If DH was seen to be rude, or seen to be disgraceful as a representative of Horde Prime, he’d be punished, and Hordak would probably receive a reprimand as his superior. 

Hordak Leaned forward slightly towards, “Do tell me,” He said, “about the theaters on your planet.” When Hordak learned that he was coming to this thing, he picked up on some things he might be able to use to get him through the absolute worst part of these affairs, the worst torment and torture he could think of. 

Small Talk.

If he could get the Shi-rian to start talking, start raving at least, about something he could tune out and think about some of his experiments on his home base, so long as he lifted his brows occasionally, and gave the odd Common platitute every now and again. 

“You… Want to know about our theaters?”

“I hear, “ He continued, “That you use holograms for parts, instead of actual actors..?”

\----------

“Figured all you did in the horde was fight.” Frosta said, frowning, “That’s all you do here.” 

“That’s all I’ve done in your lifetime, and to your knowledge.” Hordak corrected. They had skimmed through their main course, and were working on desert. Entrapta was very happy now, eating tiny little cookies she called “Macarons”, while Hordak himself had been served a bowl of what appeared to be fine, crushed, frozen fruit dish. It was so cold he had to take tiny bites or it made his entire head hurt. 

“So you did do this here before?” 

Hordak nodded, “When I first arrived, most of my conquests were through diplomacy. I didn’t exactly have an army.” 

“So it was only after you got an army that you gave up on diplomacy.” Glimmer snapped. 

“Actually-” Entrapta cut in, pulling her Data Pad out from nowhere. She held it up and showed a pie-chart, “64% of the conquests were achieved through diplomacy, or surrender before coming to combat. An additional 27% surrendered after minimal casualties, through diplomacy. The remaining 9% were conquered through actual, long term combat.’

There was a moment of silence around the table as Entrapta beamed, holding up her data pad. Hordak gestured at her, turning to Glimmer, “See? She does her research, knows what she’s talking about, And provides numerical evidence for her statements. And Charts. She’s perfect.”


	24. Date Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to LadyMalinore for brainstorming on this one! Check her out! New Bonds is great, and my personal favourite is Hairy Situation!
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyMalinore/pseuds/LadyMalinore

The libraries of Bright Moon were much like the rest of the castle; covered in pastel colours and gold gilt. Gold gilt ladders- at least, Hordak hoped they were gold gilt as actual gold wouldn’t hold much weight but he wouldn’t have put it past them to have a useless gold ladder as decoration at the very least- were scattered across the room to help people climb up to the highest shelves to get the books that were sorted nearly to the top. 

The shelves actually reached up high enough that despite his height, Hordak himself would have to use the ladder to reach the books that were more than halfway up.

Absolutely useless. Or at the very least, inefficient. He didn’t know if the Fright Zone Libraries had as many books all told as many of them were digitized, but at the very worst, all the average Horde soldiers would have needed to reach the top shelf was a step stool. At the very least he hoped that the Bright Moon libraries were well organized. 

“I’ve never been in the libraries before” Entrapta said in quiet awe as she brushed past him, rising herself up on her slightly puffed out hair as she lifted up to get a better look at the books, “I wonder how much first ones data it might have!”  


“It might have nothing” Hordak said still looking around. He wasn’t particularly worried about this, he didn’t know if they had any information on the first ones, or if they did, if they had something that Entrapta didn’t know. 

But that didn’t matter. As the door closed behind them, Hordak was just happy to be out of that room, and alone with Entrapta He had been worried that the guards would insist on staying in the library with them, but thankfully they had been content to wait outside. He was very grateful, because he was concerned that he’d make a fool of himself. If it was just Entrapta around, it didn’t matter so much, but he still didn’t entirely understand what the point was of a date. He understood that he was expected to act more…. Romantic, he supposed, around Entrapta during a date, but did the activities change? Was he supposed to otherwise act different around her? He hadn’t planned this, he hadn’t studied dates, he didn’t know what he was supposed to do!

Entrapta didn’t seem to mind though as she poured through the books. “Most of these are historical in nature, which honestly I -can- get good data from these, but that involves a lot of combing through narrative and perspectives.”

There was a chair nearby, a large, comfy looking one with a big table in front of it. Hordak made his way over to it and sat down leaning back as he watched Entrapta flit about and pick out books. She eventually came down with a large stack of books which was plopped down on the desk in front of Hordak. 

“I think these might be interesting..” she said, running her fingers over the spines, “They seem to be from some archeological digs, and this one says more about the crystals..” She let her eyes linger on the crystal in Hordak’s armor. Hordak idly lifted his hand to rest on it. 

“I wish I could make that work better.” She said, “But it’s just not the right crystal for the job.” She frowned as she looked at the books, “If I had my own data, or if I even had access to the Fright Zone database, I might be able to get the information I need about altering crystals. “ she tapped on his, “And I’d get this sorted out properly.” 

“I should have taken better care.” Hordak said, “I should have known he’d try something. I should have -“ 

A strand of hair popped him in the mouth, silencing him, “You couldn’t have done anything. I shouldn’t have written ‘loved’ on it anyway.” 

Hordak thought he heard something. His ears flicked as he looked around but he saw nothing. He frowned as he turned back to Entrapta, “we’ve been over this.” He said firmly, “and I’m glad you wrote that on it.” He idly picked up one of the books that she had set down, and flipped it open to check the index, “What…. If you can alter this gem, did you consider what you might write on this one?”

“I didn’t think you’d want me to write anything on it.” 

“Why not?” 

Entrapta shrugged and looked away, “Well… You know Adora can read First ones writing, right? If I wrote something on it, she’d be able to read it.”

Hordak felt his ears twitch slightly, but he shrugged, “that’s a problem?”

“I didn’t think you’d want some declaration of affection around your neck.” She glanced aside. 

“I don’t understand why I wouldn’t? Clearly, it’s from you. Why shouldn’t I be pleased?”

“You’d find it embarrassing.” She glanced at him, “your ears are blue. You would.” 

Hordak frowned as he looked from the book to her, “I am simply unused to it.” He said, “Displays of affection weren’t necessarily considered good in the Horde.” 

“There was no problem with it in the Fright Zone. I mean, Scorpia-“

“The actual Horde.” He corrected. “It was just..” 

“It wasn’t allowed?”

Hordak frowned. Not allowed wasn’t the right phrase, no. “We were… trained? No, conditioned to see displays of affection as shameful, and as something to be embarrassed about. I am… not embarrassed by your displays of affection.” 

There was that sound again. Hordak turned his head, frowning as his ears twitched trying to figure out what it was he was hearing, but as he did Entrapta started to play with his hair, causing him to lean back into the chair, a contented chirp emitting from his mouth. 

“Well.. that makes me happy anyway.” Entrapta said, smiling now. “I don’t know what I might put on the new one. Maybe ‘Precious’ or ‘Entrapta’s.’ She gave him a slightly evil grin, “Maybe ‘cupcake’”

Hordak felt his ears flick slightly as she started stroking his hair with both hands.

“You know..” She said softly, “We could always come back to the library tomorrow. We could maybe go back to our room?” 

“Oh? Why, what’s in our room?” Hordak asked, almost teasing. 

“Privacy.” She said firmly, “And the chance that nobody will walk in on us if we decide to cuddle.”

He heard that noise again, but this time, he could make out what it was. His ears flicked back and burned blue as he sat up in the chair suddenly, his ears turning this way and that to get a lock on what he had heard; the sound of someone pretending to gag. 

“Hordak?” Entrapta asked, “What’s-“

“Or MAYBE” Hordak said, loudly enough for anyone in the Library to hear, “We’ll just clear off this table right here, have a -“ He faltered for a moment, trying to remember the slang he had heard not long ago, “‘quickie’ right on the table, since CLEARLY nobody decided to follow us here, and spy on us.” 

There was a deafening silence in the room. Entrapta’s hair twisted as she looked at him in confusion, “I… don’t necessarily have an issue with that, but that’s not really your thing. I mean, all our stuff is-“ 

Hordak stood up, picked her up, and put her on the table, putting his hand over her mouth at the same time. 

“Ugh, ok, we’ll leave!” 

Entrapta spun around on the table just in time to see Mermista come out from behind a shelf. “You were following?” Entrapta’s face turned slightly red, “you were listening?!”

“Well, we didn’t think we’d be actually listening in on you two being all romantic.” 

Hordak felt his ears flick, “We?”

A scandalized looking Perfuma walked out from behind the same shelf, followed by a confused looking Frosta, who looked at Mermista and asked, “What’s a quickie?” 

Hordak turned on Mermista, “I can understand, to a point, spying on us. We were until recently the enemy, so I understand that.” He pointed to Frosta, “Why bring a child to spy on us as well!”

“Hey! I work just as hard, and I fight just as well!!” 

“We were very clear that this is a date.” Entrapta said, still somewhat red in the face, “I don’t know why you’d want to watch us. Unless you’re into Voyeurism.” 

Hordak paused, his brows furrowing, “I’m afraid I don’t know that one, Entrapta.” He said. 

“Dummy.” Frosta said, “That’s when people like to watch other people kiss.” 

By Perfuma’s horrified expression, and Mermista’s stifled laughter, Hordak could guess that it meant a little more than that.

“And that’s all it means.” Perfuma said, giving a firm look to Mermista. 

Hordak felt his ears twitch and burn as he rubbed his temples. This was not how he saw this date happening. 

“Anyway, we didn’t think you were actually going to be all sickeningly cute and stuff on this date, or at the very least we kinda thought this whole being in love thing was a show or something.”

“I was put under a truth spell!” Hordak insisted. 

Mermista pointed to Entrapta, “She wasn’t” She said, “And besides, I don’t trust what I don’t see.” 

“That.” Hordak said after a moment of thought, “Is exceedingly fair. But still-“

“Yeah, yeah, we’re leaving.” Mermista started for the door, followed by Perfuma and Frosta. She turned back to look at Hordak, “You really didn’t know what voyuerism meant?”

Hordak frowned, his ears twitching, “Etherian is my seventh language.” He said, “I think I can be forgiven for missing some of it’s baser terminology.” 

“Seventh?” Frosta said, turning around from the door, “What other languages do you speak?”

Hordak gave a little grin, “Standard Horde, Standard Horde Sign, Common universal, Universal sign, French, Gallifreyan, and of course, Etherian. All fluent in spoken and written form.” 

Frosta frowned, “I think half of those are made up.” She said as she turned to leave, following after Mermista and Perfuma.

When they were alone, Entrapta looked at him, confused, “Standard Horde sign?” 

Hordak nodded, “A gesture based, non-verbal -“

“I know what sign language is… but I didn’t think it was needed in the Horde, since you’re all supposed to be perfect.” 

“It’s useful for being in combat situations where silence is necessary.” He explained, “And besides, damage and injury can affect hearing. It’s just better to know a non-verbal language.” 

He sat back in the chair, his ears still burning as he looked over the book that Entrapta had brought to him. He wasn’t embarrassed by her displays of affection, no but still… He went through the conversation to try to recall if there was anything in particular that he shouldn’t have said, then gave up. There was no point trying to get all anxious about it; it wasn’t like he could threaten them into silence. 

Maybe he shouldn’t have made the joke about the quickie. He put his head in his hands as he leaned against the desk, his ears blue. 

“You know.” Entrapta said as she came up behind him, playing with his hair again, “I should start to chart the angle of your ear flicks. I know you said that the ear movements mean something different, maybe I could start to read them that way. Also, you’re actually adorable when your ears are down like that.” 

Hordak frowned as he looked up at her, “I am -not- adorable.” He insisted. 

“You are to me.” Entrapta said with a grin. She leaned in and gently kissed his hot ear. As she pulled away, she snapped, “Ohh! That’s what I’ll put on your new gem!” 

“What is?”

“Adorable.” 

Hordak gave a low chuckle, “Perfect. When Prime sees that, he’ll laugh himself to death.” 

“I thought you said you’d not be embarrassed by expressions of affection.” 

“That doesn’t mean Prime won’t laugh.” He said. “Besides that, I think that if anyone else heard you call me adorable, they’d laugh too. You’re the only one who thinks that.” 

“Well…” She said thoughtfully before she wrapped her hair around him, holding him in a hug from behind, “They’re allowed to be wrong.” 

Hordak leaned back, and gently stroked her hair. He decided that maybe he liked dates. 

  
  



	25. Princess Hordak

Their arctic gear was packed into the transport that they would take as far North as they could until they had to land, and continued travelling north with Mermista’s ride. It’d be a relatively long flight, but not cramped as Swift Wind was not coming - Hordak was very glad not to be stuck in a transport with any horse, let alone one as irritating as Swift Wind.

Hordak and Entrapta were going, one to stay above ground, and help triangulate a signal to where they had to go, the other to guide everyone else to the location underwater. 

Mermista was of course going because she would be most effective underwater. 

Adora was going because she had the sword. 

Bow was going as extra defense. 

With some arguing, Frosta was also going. Hordak didn’t want her to go, based on her being a child, but that argument didn’t get far with the other princesses, or Frosta. Besides that, she would be the most effective in the cold. 

Glimmer had relented, and agreed to stay back in bright moon. But she and the other princesses had insisted that they see them off. Hordak and Entrapta made sure that all their supplies were well in place, nestled between the large duffle bags of cold weather clothing which Hordak hadn’t even gotten to look at. 

He didn’t care what it looked like though, he had been truthful there. So long as it kept him warm, he’d wear anything. 

“Send word as soon as it’s done.” Glimmer said to Bow,” The moment it’s done, let me know… I hate not going out with you.”

“Glimmer…” Bow said his lips pursing. 

“I know, I know…” She said. There had actually been an argument earlier between Glimmer, Bow, and Adora. Hordak only knew this because he had been able to hear them shouting through the walls as they were preparing their supplies. He didn’t know exactly what was said, but Glimmer had wanted to go with them, and Bow - to Hordak’s surprise- echoed his own opinions. 

Glimmer didn’t like it. 

The last pack in the transport, Frosta climbed in first with a filled backpack, followed by the others. Hordak was taking a last look around with Entrapta to make sure that they hadn’t forgotten anything when from above, Imp swooped down and landed on Hordak’s shoulder. 

“What’s THAT!” Mermista exclaimed. 

“That’s … uh..” Adora looked to Hordak, “Honestly, we just called him your pet.”

“Imp.” Hordak said. He pulled him off his shoulder and with a quick scratch under the chin, set him on the ground. 

Perfuma let out a little “aww.” At this. Hordak nearly growled at her, but before he could, Imp had jumped back up into his shoulder with a hiss. 

“No.” Hordak said, “You’re not coming with us.” 

“I think he’s feeling left out.” Entrapta said, “He’s been away so long-”   
  


“Because he’s sulking around this castle in the kitchens and with Morgana getting fed all kinds of stuff. Don’t feel sorry for him.” He picked him up off his shoulder, and gave him a good stare down, “If you keep this up, you wouldn’t be able to fly.”

Imp hissed again, and stuck his tongue out. 

“Aww, he just wants to go with you.” Perfuma said as she watched the interaction. 

Hordak gave a frown, “Imp will not do well in the cold.” He said. He wouldn’t do well himself, but Imp was smaller. He’d freeze so much faster. He looked at Imp. “You’re staying here.” He said firmly. 

Imp blew a raspberry at him in response, causing Perfuma to giggle, “He’s adorable!”   
  


“Here then.” Hordak said, a wicked smirk crossing his face as he thrust Imp into Perfuma’s arms, “You can watch him.” 

To his surprise, Perfuma gave a little squeal before hugging Imp close. 

“Good luck with that.” Hordak said as he entered the transport. As he watched the door close, blocking his view of Perfuma holding onto a struggling Imp, he realized that what he had just done was probably in the top ten for terrible things he’s done since landing on Etheria. Maybe top five. 

“So…” Entrapta said as the transport started to raise up, “Who do you think is going to hate that more by the end of it.” She asked him. 

Hordak frowned, considered it for a moment, then turned to her, “I honestly have no idea.” he said, “But I'm sure I’ll enjoy the outcome regardless.” He sat down on the floor of the transport as they started to pick up speed, with Entrapta sitting down next to him as she went over some scripting information on her Data Pad. She was working on the laser for his suit, but wanted to give it different modes.

He wanted to dive into that right away, but Hordak realized there was something else that he needed to know that he didn’t. He turned to Mermista, “you said we’d have a ride.” he said, “But you didn’t specify how we’re getting to the pole after we land.” 

Frosta, who had taken out some books and snacks from her over packed backpack gave a little snort, “It’s her boyfriend, Sea Hawk.” she said. 

“Oooh, is that the guy you brought to the All Princess Ball?” Entrapta said excited. 

Mermista pursed her lips together, “Ex.” She said firmly. “Ex boyfriend.” 

Oddly, Hordak felt a pang of pity for her, and for him. She didn’t seem particularly sad about this, in fact she seemed rather put out at him being called her boyfriend at all. Hordak wondered though, now that he had some more information, now that he had time to think about it, if this horror at the idea that Entrapta might change her mind about him, the pangs of pity at hearing about split up couples wasn’t a result of his biology. 

If it was, that oddly made him feel better about being so shaken by it all. It was something he couldn’t control. 

“Is Sea-Hawk a title?” He asked after a relatively awkward silence. 

Mermista rolled her eyes, “No, it’s his name. He’s a sea-captain, if you want his title. 

Hordak almost felt himself relax. “A captain then.” He said with a grin, “Why didn’t you say so. A trained captain should make this trip a relatively efficient and …. What?”

As he spoke everyone save for Entrapta turned to give him avery odd look- it was almost amusement. 

Mermista finally gave a chuckle, “Don’t worry about it.” She said, “He’ll get us where we need to go.. You’ll.. Uh..” She frowned, looked to Bow and Adora, then back to Hordak. 

“Sea Hawk is not to be explained. He’s to be experienced. You’ll get it when you meet him.” 

\-----

Hordak as the last one to put on his winter gear, rightfully guessing he’d need more space than everyone else. 

As he stepped out into the cold he could almost feel the physical pressure of everyone staring at him. His normally sleek and minimalistic outfit was entirely covered. A deep purple parka hung all the way down to his ankles, just covering the thick wool shift that he had thrown over his armor. The parka was very thick- it reminded him the fluffy, thick blankets that Entrapta was fond of, and almost had a quilted kind of texture. Thick black boots had been procured which fit over his metal boots. Thinner gloves were hidden under thick black woolen mittens. To his relief, there was not an inch of his face exposed to the air. A type of mask with holes for the nose, mouth, and eyes covered his face. A black scarf then covered the nose and mouth, reflective goggles covered his eyes, and a hat was shoved over the mask, hidden under the purple hood of the parka. 

“You.. uh.. Dressed enough there?” Mermista asked.

“No.” Hordak grumbled. He could feel the chill through the coat, on his arms. Inhaling hurt his nose. 

“Hordak doesn’t like the cold.” Entrapta said simply as she checked something on her data pad. She, like most everyone else, was fine with just a coat, hats, mitts, and a scarf. Except for Bow, of course, who still had his midriff exposed. 

“WAs it a good idea to come then?” BOw asked, frowning. HOrdak frowned at him, but then realized that Bow couldn’t see his expressions. 

“Two scientists to triangulate the location.” He said. This wasn’t exactly true - Entrapta could have managed just fine on her own, but he wasn’t staying behind if he could help it. 

“You look like a purple marshmallow.” Frosta commented.

Hordak just shrugged, hoping that she could see that through the layers he was wearing. He turned to Mermista, “Where is this Sea Hawk.” He asked, desperate to change the topic. 

“MERMISTA!” 

It was a cry behind him, far away. Male. He turned, and saw someone coming towards them in a ship. A very large, but…. Not very sturdy ship. He wondered idly how cold the water might be, and decided that he wasn’t going to enjoy this leg of the journey. 

He stopped the boat next to a dock close to where they had landed, jumped down, and ran up to Mermista to engulf her in a hug, which she quickly sidestepped, causing Sea Hawk to slip and fall face first into the snow. 

No. Hordak didn’t like this. 

Sea Hawk stood back up, his face flushed for a moment, then seemed to shake it off and turned to the others. “HA haha!” He laughed, “She called me to come to the rescue, and now she’s shy! Can’t be helped! It’s a common problem with women around me.” He smirked as he stroked his mustache. 

Sea Hawk, or Swift Wind… it has a hard tell right now, time would probably tell him which was worse, but it was very hard to choose the worst one right now. 

“Good to see you Sea HAwk!” Bow said, giving him a big smile. They gave each other a strange combination of a high five and a fist bump. “IS this a new ship?” Bow asked. 

“It is!” Sea Hawk beamed. 

This was a new ship? Hordak glanced at Entrapta, who didn’t seem concerned - or rather, she wasn’t paying attention. 

“What happened to your last ship?” Bow asked. 

“The usual.” 

“Ah. Fire?”

“She was a noble and steadfast vessel if there ever was one!” She Hawk said, wiping away an imaginary tear, “Alas, she just couldn’t handle the fire. And the impact.” 

Hordak felt an ice that was entirely unrelated to the weather creep through his veins. The usual? Fire? Impact? 

Hordak had been in spaceships. He had fought in 0 gravity at speeds surpassing Mach 2 and survived. He’d orbited around black holes in ships that just had enough power to keep them from behind sucked in and crushed into a singularity, but there was science behind those vessels. They had been tested, and maintained properly. 

This ship looked like it was held together with nothing but hopes and wishes, and Hordak didn’t trust that. He did not want to get on that boat. 

Sea Hawk turned to Adora, “And you! Still doing the thing with the sword?”

Adora gave a fixed, awkward grin, and patted her gauntlet, “Yup.” She said in a strained voice, “Still doing the thing.” 

He knelt down, and bowed to Frosta, which would have been polite if it hadn’t had such a mocking gesture to it. “And greetings to you, Princess Frosta.” He produced a flower from somewhere and pressed it into her hands, “Lovely, as always.” 

Hordak almost smirked as Frosta tossed it into the nearby icy water as soon as he turned away.

“Princess Entrapta! I thought…”

Mermista was next to him, and gave him a quick jab in the ribs with her elbow. It looked like it hurt. 

“I Thought I’d not see you again until the next all princess ball!” He said, rubbing his side. He turned to Hordak. “And you are…” He hesitated, looking over the very well covered figure of Hordak. He turned to Mermista, “A new Princess I haven’t met?”

Mermista and Frosta stifled snickers. 

“Sea Hawk..” Bow said carefully, “This is Hordak.” 

“Hordak?” Sea Hawk echoed. He still had a stupid smile on his face, but there was a definate paling of his face, a hint of fear in his eyes. 

“Hordak. Former lord of the Fright Zone.” Entrapta said, not looking up from her data pad. 

The smile faltered. His face paled. Hordak thought that maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. If he was scared, he’d be less likely to-

“OH, I SEE!” Sea Hawk suddenly exclaimed, “You heard of my adventures, and just had to tag along to meet me! See the competition!” 

“Competition…?”

“We’re only a few gentlemen around all these lovely princesses! Of course you’d want to see how you square up! Well-” He turned aside, running a hand through his hair, ''Don't Worry, no need to feel nervous. I’m just a normal guy. A normal awesome sea captain guy.”

Hordak looked back at Entrapta. “Is… is he quite alright?” Hordak wasn't entirely sure what he was saying. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to be in competition with him in. Perhaps this Sea Hawk had broken from fear and realizing that he was speaking to Lord Hordak?

“Now then!” Sea Hawk turned around, and pointed to his ship, taking a dramatic pose as he shouted, “ONWARD! TO ADVENTURE!!”

Bow and Sea Hawk ran up to the ship. Hordak hung back, taking in the frankly disconcerting conversation, the unstable looking ship, what the clearly unstable sea captain that he was now entrusting his safety to. 

"Come on, Princess Hordak." Mermista called after him as they approached the ship. Hordak hardly felt Entrapta wrap a tendril of hair around his arm through the parka as she pulled him forward, getting him walking towards the ship through the icy snow. 

He still wasn’t sure if this Sea Hawk was worse than Swift Wind or not. 


	26. Sea Hawk

Despite popular opinion. Hordak did actually enjoy music. Once Hordak had become the second in command, he would often attend various shows in Horde Prime’s place since Prime had no interest in music. 

Soaring wordless instrumental orchrestrated performances? He could sit back and listen for hours. 

Dramatic plays were always better when put to music. 

Tech Operas, while a little more niche, a little rarer to find a new one, were enjoyable in a pulp fiction kind of way. 

There was in fact very little that Hordak couldn’t enjoy. He’d even enjoy the odd sea shanty if it was well performed. 

That “If” was the problem this day. 

Hordak at first thought the stories were the worst. As soon as they set sail, he started going on and on about all these adventures that he’d had far north, and none of them sounded plausible. He tried to ignore him, tried to focus on the work he was doing with Entrapta, but when a building burns before you, you feel drawn to watch. 

And he was a burning building. 

When he stopped his stories and maintained a wonderful silence for approximately 2.5 minutes before declaring that it was time for a sea shanty. 

It wasn’t music. It was torture. Hordak figured that it was the sensitivity of his ears, and his appreciation of good music that made the sea shanties that Sea Hawk sang feel like a war crime as everyone else had fixed smiles, and were clearly tolerating him but didn’t seem to be horrified by his music. 

Bow was the only exception. He kept an honest smile on his face. It was in that moment that Hordak figured out Bow, or at the very least, figured out why Bow was treating him as he was. 

Bow was incapable of hate. Perhaps even incapable of dislike. Was it a problem in his brain? A genetic trait? Was it taught? 

“Oh! I think we’re here!” Sea Hawk said. The boat shuddered as it slowed, and Hordak grabbed onto the railing and clutched at it through the gloves and mitts as the boat slowed. 

He was glad his face was covered. He had been certain that the boat was simply going to fall apart right there, and he’d die, frozen to death in arctic waters while looking like a purple marshmallow, according to Frosta. 

“Alright.” Mermista said, “ So like, before all this happened, I had diving suits made for everyone.” She pulled a chest from under a tarp that she had been sitting on. “The good news, They’re all thermal, so they’ll keep us warm, and we have a good hour of oxygen in the tanks.”

“But the bad news?” Entrapta asked, not looking up from her data pad. 

“I had these made for everyone before all this happened. I don’t have one for Hordak.” 

Hordak snapped his head to Mermista, then to Entrapta, and he was about to protest, but realized there was no point. There was no suit, so there was little he could do about that. 

“While I can hold my breath for an hour or so,” Hordak said, his voice muffled by his layers, “I don’t believe I’d manage more than..” He looked down into the waters. “Ten minutes?”

“You’re not sure?” Entrapta asked, finally looking up from her data pad. 

“It’s not something I’ve especially had the opportunity or the desire to test.” 

“Well that works out.” Entrapta said, “It’s better if you triangulate the signals so we get in and out faster.” She gave him a little smile, “I’m also happier if you’re above water, all things considered…” 

Hordak didn’t like it, but he didn’t see much other choice. 

One by one, the princesses went down below deck to a little storage area where they took off their winter clothing, and put the suits on over their normal clothes. Bow was the last one to go down. When he came up with his suit on, Mermista said, “Ok. Let’s go.”

Then Hordak realized that Sea Hawk hadn’t changed into a suit. 

“He’s not going with you?” Hordak asked, gesturing to Sea-Hawk. Mermista glanced at Sea-Hawk, then back to Hordak with a vicious grin, “Nope. You get to keep him company. He’s manning the ship-“

“I'm sure I can manage that.” Hordak said stiffly. 

“Oh no!” Sea-Hawk, “Nobody mans my ship but me!” 

Mermista shrugged, “See, and we can’t leave the ship adrift, so…” She trailed off, and went to the edge of the ship. “You and Sea Hawk get to enjoy some quality  
time. Have fun.” She said as she waved and dove into the water. 

Entrapta looked up to him, gave him a big smile, and wrapped her hair - Mermista had created a helmet that allowed her hair to stick out of it around his forearm. 

“I’ll be back soon!” She said before she jumped into the water, followed by Adora and Bow. 

Frosta was last, looking at Hordak, muttering, “ugh, you two are so weird.” Before she dove into the water. 

Hordak immediately didn’t like this situation. He realized suddenly that since she had gotten injured on Beast Island, he had not left her side - at least not in what could be considered a dangerous situation. He had been taken away for questioning, she had been taken away for the dreaded girl talk, but this was different. 

He went to the edge of the boat, and looked down into the waters. Would she be ok? What would he do if she got in trouble down there. What if these suits didn’t work as they were supposed to, or they got attacked, or there was a malfunction with their air-tanks, or-

“OHhh, do you think she’ll be ok down there!!”

Hordak hadn’t noticed Sea-Hawk come up to the edge, to gaze down at the water just like Hordak was, just maybe with a more panicked expression on his face. 

“I mean, what if Mermista gets in trouble down there? I know she can take care of herself, but everyone needs help right? What if the suits don’t work!? THEY COULD FREEZE DOWN THERE! Oh, worse… what if they get attacked by some horrible monster, or. What if their air-tanks don’t work, or-“

Hordak gave a low, dangerous growl, and felt his ears burn under all his layers. 

“I do not know the rest of the princesses, but Entrapta is more than competent, and will be fine.” He said. He turned away from the edge of the ship, and sat down on the now empty container. He took out his data pad, and set it to track the signals needed, which would give Entrapta a better idea of where exactly they had to go. After that there was little to do besides wait, and react if there was a problem. 

“But aren’t you worried??” He cried, wringing his hands next to Hordak. 

“I don’t see the point of worrying.” He said, but in truth, he was very worried. He felt like he was going to be sick with worry and he didn’t need Sea Hawk making it worse. 

“It’s just.. Well, Mermista is so .. I mean, she comes off as tough all the time, but she’s really quite sweet and sensitive, and I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to her.” He frowned as he looked back over the water, “I know she doesn’t want to be with me anymore, but I can’t help but worry about her!” 

That almost physically hurt Hordak. He felt his breath quicken for a moment as he shut his eyes tightly. He really didn’t like Sea Hawk, but that….

“Then why bother.” He finally asked as deadpan as he could manage. “Why bother with any of this if she doesn’t want to be around you?”

Sea-Hawk turned to face him, his eyes lighting up in a way that made Hordak regret asking, “Because I love to see her happy!” He said, “If she needs me, I’ll still come to help, I’ll do anything I can to help her! I’ll do anything I can to make her happy!” He developed an almost blissful look on his face, “No matter what happens, seeing her happy makes my heart swell with joy! Oh, the day she marries, I might cry of joy.” 

“Interesting.” Hordak muttered

Sea-Hawk gave a long, low sign, “Though, I will miss our duets…” 

Hordak turned perhaps a little faster than he intended to from the screen he was watching and towards Sea-Hawk. He had known Mermista for all of two days, and he couldn’t start to imagine her participating in a duet with Sea-Hawk. He couldn’t see her singing at all. 

“I see…” Hordak said, glancing back at the data pad. A quick, evil grin spread over his hidden face, “Mermista didn’t strike me as a singing kind of person.” 

“Oh, well, in public not unless she’s had a couple of drinks, but she used to sing with me a lot when we were dating! I mean-”

Hordak wasn’t especially excited to listen to Sea Hawk gush about Mermista to be truthful, but he did acknowledge a good opportunity for ammunition, just in case Mermista decided to call him “Princess Hordak” again. 

—————-

The next half hour later was filled with Sea-Hawk raving about Mermista while Hordak spent a lot of effort in stopping himself from raving about Entrapta. After a while Sea-Hawk trailed off and pulled out a pack of cards.

“I have an idea!” He said, “I’ll teach you how to play poker! You’ll never beat me, But I’ll go easy on you the first few rounds.” 

“No.” Hordak said, deadpan. 

“Oh.. very well.” He said. Hordak drew his attention to his data pad, checking the signals.

Then Sea Hawk started singing again. Hordak felt his ears twitch and flick down protectively under the layers he was wearing. 

“If I let you teach me that game.” He growled, “Will you stop singing?”

“Well, I can’t play poker and sing at the same time.” 

Hordak signed, and turned towards him,. “Fine. Teach me then.” 

The rules were simple, and the first two hands, with Sea Hawk going “easy” on him, and Hordak just learning, Hordak beat Sea Hawk soundly. 

After that, with Sea Hawk saying he was going to “go all out” and being very dramatic with his card drops and his reveals, and Hordak getting quite comfortable with the game, Sea Hawk suffered three humiliating defeats. 

Sea Hawk shuffled the cards, and grumbled, “Well, it’s because you have your face covered.” He gave Hordak what he assumed was supposed to be a sly grin, “If you didn’t, I’d be able to read your face like a book!”

Hordak doubted that. 

Sea hawk slowed his suffling, and for a moment, his expression changed from the boisterous outrageous expression that Hordak had grown used to over the last few hours, and took on an almost sober, decidedly sad look. 

“You know… Mermista used to always beat me too.” He looked down at the cards then gave a brief smile, “I beat her once though! I’m pretty sure her let me win.. but she insisted that she didn’t”

“I see..” Hordak said slowly. He’d never admit it, but when Sea Hawk raved about Mermista, talking about how amazing she was, how brave she was, how clever she was, he almost saw himself in those moments. His internal dialogue anyway. 

This sudden sadness disturbed him. 

Sea Hawk continued shuffling, though perhaps a little slower now.

“What happened then?” Hordak said, surprising himself, and apparently Sea Hawk as well, since he dropped the cards. 

“What?”

“What happened?” He repeated slowly, keeping his voice deadpan. “To you and Mermista…” A part of Hordak said that this could be useful information. How do Etherian relationships dissolve. How could he avoid that. 

Sea Hawk picked up the cards slowly, his brows creased. His silence was worse than his singing. 

Almost. 

“I don’t know. Not really.” He said. “I thought ….” he shook his head. “ Ah, it’s nothing. You know how it can be.”

“I do not.” Hordak said, trying to take on the same kind of tone that he might have used if he had been asking a force captain to tell him what happened during a failed mission. 

“Oh…” He picked up the cards, and put them on the crate they were using as a table. “Well...hmm..” He looked at Hordak, at the ocean, then to the cards. 

“Mermista said she thought I was cute.” He said. “She liked my enthusiasm, she said. And we both liked the ocean…” He frowned, and got quiet for a long time. “I guess…. I guess she found me tiring.” He gave Hordak a quick smile, but it was forced, “I’ve been told that… people tend to find me tiring.” 

Hordak felt a little twinge of guilt. He did indeed find him tiring.

“But you were the same before you.. Got involved with her, yes?”

“Well.. Yes! But..” he gave a frown as he concentrated, then snapped. “Do you… Well.. Do you eat?”

Hordak blinked under the goggles, confused. “I .. yes, I do?”

“What’s one of your favourite foods?”

He nearly said that he mostly just ate ration bars in the Fright Zone, and sometimes some fruit, but then he remembered this very fancy drink that Entrapta had made for him once from a variety of blended fruits shortly after she discovered what his diet had consisted of. 

“Entrapta made something called a smoothie once.” He said. 

“And you liked it, right?” Sea Hawk asked. Hordak nodded. “And you’d have another right now?” He nodded again. 

“What if you only had smoothies every day. How long would you want to keep having them?”

Hordak didn’t answer at that point. Sea Hawk shrugged, “Sometimes, nothing changes, and people just get bored of one another.”

“And nothing can stop that?” Hordak hated that in that moment, he couldn’t keep the panic out of his voice. His breathing had quickened and he could feel his ears twitching rapidly under his mask. 

Though he couldn’t see his face or his ears, Sea Hawk had apparently caught the anxiety in his voice. 

“Some people stay together.” He said quickly, “Spinerella and Netossa have been together for ages! And Angela and Micha were together until… well, until he was gone.” He realized he had stopped shuffling his cards. He started again, shuffling carefully. 

“And… It’s different for different people.” He said carefully, “I mean, if I can be so bold as to take you and Entrapta as an example-“

Hordak felt his ears flick. He asked himself if he was that transparent, but answered himself with a yes. Yes he was. At least when it came to Entrapta. 

“-You’re both older than the others. I mean, I assume you’re older. Of course you’re older. But I mean..” He nearly dropped his cards again, “I mean, I’ve heard that when people are older, then it’s like… it’s like people know better what they want? And things last longer.” He gave a nervous laugh, “But I’m not older, so I don’t actually know!” 

Hordak didn’t respond with anything more than a growl. The idea that a relationship could just end was terrifying enough. That it could end for no apparent reason?

That was a nightmare. 

He was dealing the next hand when there was a sudden, frantic splashing at the edge of the water. Hordak jumped up and ran to the edge, nearly stumbling as he did. He looked down, and saw a figure gasping for air. The wet, lavender hair told him it was Entrapta. 

He reached down, nearly falling out of the boat, and caught her hand. And pulled her on deck. 

She sat, gasping and dripping onto the deck. He looked her over, and while she didn’t appear to be injured, the tube that led from her air tank to the face mask had been severed. Hordak pulled the mask off of her. 

“What happened?”

She coughed again, spitting up water before she responded, “We ran into complications.” She muttered. 

Hordak’s first thought was that it was the Horde. Somehow, Prime had figured out their plan, and had come ahead of time to stop them. 

“We activated the thing.” She said, holding up her thankfully waterproof datapad, “But when we did, some of the ice on the bottom cracked open. We were fine, and we started to come back up, but something came out of the ice and attacked us.” She coughed again.

“What was it? Why was your tube cut—“ 

Hordak wasn’t done when Sea Hawk cut him off, “What about Mermista!” He demanded in a voice that matched the frantic tone of Hordak’s, “Where is she!” 

“She’s still down there, fighting it off.” She said, “But whatever it is has tentacles, and razors on the edge. It sliced through the air tube. Mermista used her magic to get me to the surface as soon as that happened.” 

“Are they going to be ok!? Are they on their way back up?” Sea Hawk cried

“They’re…” She stopped, and looked down. “I have to go back down! They need my help! Do we have another tank? A replacement tube??”

Sea Hawk shook his head, “We’re lucky we got what we had.” 

“Adora dropped her sword when it attacked. Frosta got knocked down to the bottom, and Bow’s bow isn’t any good down there-“ 

Hordak looked to Entrapta, caught the panic, the worry in her eyes, the panic in Sea Hawk’s eyes, and then looked into the water. 

He didn’t know that there was a curse in Etherian or in Chilacian that would represent his feelings at this moment. 

He slowly pulled his hood down. Then took off the hat. “Give me the mask.” He grumbled as he took the goggles off. The wind made his eyes sting. When he took the mask off, his ears felt like they were being stabbed with tiny little knives.” 

“Hordak, you can’t-“

“We don’t have another tank-“ Sea Hawk stated, “You can’t go down there.”

Seeing his face for the first time, Sea Hawk seemed a little more disconcerted than he had before. 

Good. 

“I don’t need a tank.” He said. He took Entrapta’s mask, and sealed the valve, “I just need this to protect my face from the cold.” He slipped it over his head, and thankfully it covered his eyes, nose, and mouth. 

“You’ll need more than that!” Entrapta cried, “You can’t last in the cold, you-“

“I just need to get them out. Distract whatever it is, attack it, and give everyone a chance to get out. If it grabs me, I have claws, I can get away from it, I’m sure.” 

“You’ll freeze.” 

Hordak looked back into the water. He took off his mitts, and then his gloves. His hands instantly hurt from the cold. “I have a good ten minutes.” He said. “After that I’d probably ... shut down for lack of a better word.” 

“So you can’t go!” Entrapta’s hair wrapped around his waist. 

“There’s no other option.” He said, “We need them for this, don’t we? We need them for the next part of the plan at least.” 

Entrapta looked up at him, a frown on her face, but she knew he was right. 

“Oh! I have an idea!” Sea Hawk said. He went below deck, and came up with some metal wire with a loop on the end. “If we loop this around you, we can pull you up before the ten minutes are up, no?”

Hordak nodded, and kicked off the boots. Thankfully the metal Armor he had over them kept him warm. He took off the coat, clenching his neck as the air hit him. The armor was still going to keep him relatively warm, at least. 

Finally, he removed the extra woolen skirt that draped over his waist. He could have died then. The air went around his thighs and in that moment he didn’t know that he knew a pain worse than the cold. 

And he knew it was only going to get worse. 

Entrapta looped the metal wire around his waist- it was a good inch thick, and would probably be able to withstand whatever razors the monster down there had. 

Entrapta lifted herself up on her dripping wet hair, kissed him quickly. Hordak ignored the “Aww” From Sea Hawk, and kissed her back. 

“Please be careful.” She said. 

“I will” he lied. 

And he dove beneath the icy waves.


	27. freezing

Exquisite pain. The embrace of icy cold held him, and it was truly an amazing force of will that he managed to suppress his gasp of shock and pain. He felt himself floating in the cold, rising up towards the surface while he grit his teeth, waiting for the pain to pass. 

Then he realized that it wouldn’t. He didn’t know if he’d get used to it. 

It occurred to him that perhaps he had made a mistake. He had never experienced a cold like this. He didn’t know if it would have helped, but for the first time ever in his life, he wished that he wore pants. 

There was thankfully a trick he could use. An embrace of the pain for when you feel a pain so deep, so awful that you don’t think you can function but you have to do something. Your body, your mind tries to reject the pain, to escape it, but when there’s no way to escape the pain, you embrace it, you accept it. 

It only took a moment, and he was able to move again. He still felt like millions of tiny daggers were stabbing him all over, but he could move. 

It took him a moment to remember why he was in the water, and then he swam down. He was amazed by how very clear the water was. He was used to swimming and was a very strong swimmer. Most of the waters he’d swam in in the past were warmer, darker, murkier, and far more comfortable. This water was clear, the light shining through and fading off slowly below. 

Down below, the frozen floor of the arctic sea was a writing mess of tentacles. They were at least easily seen, since the creature he saw had bioluminescent spots on it. He assumed it was probably some form of squid, as he could count at least ten tentacles. Mermista, who didn’t have an air tank as she didn’t need one, was slashing at the tentacles with her trident. 

She was fine. For the moment. 

He flicked his eyes around, and saw someone struggling nearby. He couldn’t see who it was immediately - they were hidden by the diving gear they wore. He pumped his legs, and glided through the waters, flexing his claws as he dove. He drew close, and sliced easily through the tentacles. 

Adora, he realized as the severed tentacle writhed and fell away from her. She looked around frantically, and he remembered what Entrapta said. She had lost her sword. His looked around, and with his eyes more accustomed to dimmer light than hers were he saw the glint of light off the blade. He grabbed her arm, and pointed her in the right direction. She looked down, saw the sword, and dove. 

Adora was fine. For the moment. 

He felt something wrap around his waist, and pull him deeper into the water. He was jolted by the sudden movement, then noticed he was being dragged down to a gaping mouth, a circular monstrosity with several rows of teeth that spiraled down into its throat - a disconcerting cyclone of gnashing teeth. 

Hordak got closer to them than he wanted to before he pulled himself together - he had never seen spiral teeth, and that they existed was a horrifying new revelation to him, something that filled him with a sense of horror that fell just below Corpus-Worms ( they did feed on bodies, yes, but not the bodies of the dead) but just above Etherian Millipedes. (Far too many legs, but they were small and easy to kill.) 

He ran his claws through the tentacle that held him, then dove forward, seeing a tiny, black eye that glittered just above the mouth. With a shudder from the proximity to the spiral teeth ( did they go all the way down it’s mouth? Was it’s stomach all teeth?!) he dug his claws into the eye. 

Screaming is different underwater. Underwater, a loud, pained scream from a large, injured creature was something you felt. You didn’t hear it with your ears, you heard it in your head, in your chest. It rang to your bones, and Hordak was far too close to that gaping, toothy, twisted mouth so he felt it ring through him. ( seriously? How was this an evolutionary advantage!? He didn’t believe in gods, but this was a great proof of an angry, sick and twisted one) He Planted his feet on it’s injured face, and pushed off, getting better distance and speed away from the awful creature than if he had just swam away. 

He saw someone else, who was detangling themselves from tentacles that were wrapped loosely around them - a result of the creature being distracted by the pain. Hordak swam up to them , sliced through the tentacles. He turned them around and saw it was Bow. He pointed upwards, directing Bow to go to the surface- if his bow was no good here, he’d be more of a hindrance than anything else. 

Bow didn’t need extra pushing, he started swimming to the surface. 

Bow was fine. 

He looked around. Mermista wasn’t anywhere he could see her. Adora was gone as well. That only left Frosta. The child. 

He looked around frantically. Where was that child. His eyes scanned the endless sea around him, looking past the writing tentacles of the creature. 

He knew he didn’t have much more time. 

Everything from the waist down had gone numb from the cold. His entire head felt numb with cold, except for his hair which was a whole new sensation of pain. A thought arose in him that he might flinch every time he hit water from here on, just from the memory of the cold. 

Then he saw Frosta. 

He didn’t know what happened, but she had sunk down to the sea floor. She had made fists of ice that seemed to be caught in something. She wasn’t moving. 

He dove down, dodging tentacles, slicing through them when they got too close - the monster was recovering, or at the very least managing the pain enough to try for some revenge.

He was just wondering how much more time he had when he felt the cord tried around him jerk, pull, and start dragging him upwards. 

He looked down at Frosta ( a child, really, what were they thinking in sending a literal child down here), up at the glittering surface above, the blot of shadow that was Sea Hawk’s ship. 

Then he flexed his claws, and sliced through the metal cord. 

He dove down, grabbed Frosta, and turned to spring back up into the water when he noticed two things. 

The first thing; remaining tentacles were floating above him in the water. At their tips were the razors that Entrapta had mentioned. In it’s panic, it seemed the creature was lashing out madly with its remaining tentacles. 

The second thing. The exposed parts of his legs, and his sides, were sliced up. He hadn’t felt it because of the cold, but now his blood was drifting out of his body in ribbons. 

He regretted slicing the cord. 

Before he could consider how he’d get through the whirling tentacles and to the surface there was a change in the water. It didn’t get warmer, unfortunately, but it was like the currents stopped, then changed. The tentacles froze in the water, and were then pulled apart. He looked up, his vision started to blur ( that’s not good) and saw the form of Mermista, her hands out, and while he didn’t know what she was doing exactly, he figured what was happening was her doing. 

He tensed, crouched, and sprang up, holding Frosta in his arms as he shot through the water, and past the tentacles. He was starting to lose momentum as the resistance of the water slowed him, as the strength started to leave his body. 

He just felt so tired all of a sudden. The cold wasn’t so bad though. Not anymore. 

There was a push, like a rush of water around him, driving him to the surface. He did his best to ride it as he suddenly broke through the surface, the cold air hitting his soaking wet skin. Something wrapped around him, at first he didn’t realize it, he couldn’t feel properly, but it was Entrapta’s hair, and he was pulled onto the boat. 

Frosta was taken from his arms. His mask was pulled off, and though he couldn’t seem to focus on the words, Entrapta was speaking to him. His coat was thrown over his shoulders, forming a relatively warm tent over him to protect him from the freezing cold air as he dripped blood and ice water onto the deck. 

“Hordak!” 

He looked up at Entrapta, who was kneeling right in front of him. Her eyes were wide with fear and panic. She was looking over him at all the blood smeared over his skin. 

“I-It’s w-worse than-“ he couldn’t finish. His teeth were chattering too much. 

She grabbed his still tender ears roughly, and forced his face to up to look into Entrapta’s eyes. 

He realized in that moment he had never seen Entrapta truly mad. He thought for a moment that she might hit him. She looked like she wanted to. She pulled him forward by the ears, causing him to gasp in pain as she brought him close. 

“Don’t you ever, EVER do ANYTHING LIKE THAT AGAIN!” She shouted in his face. 

Hordak froze. “I-I had to-“

“You sliced the cord!” She said. There were tears in her eyes now. “Do you know what I thought when I felt that cord just fall limp? When I pulled it up and you weren’t on the other end!? Do you know what that did to me!” 

She held him like that for a second more, Then started sobbing. She wrapped her hair around herself, and he was pretty sure nobody else could hear her whimper between the sobs of “I thought I lost you.”

Mermista took a hesitant step forward. He didn’t know when she had come back to the boat, but he wasn’t surprised that he hadn’t noticed. She reached out like she wanted to touch Entrapta on the shoulder, then stopped. “Entrapta” She said softly, “You need to take him below deck. Get him warm. Look at him. He’s freezing.” 

Hair still around her face, she got up, helped Hordak up with another long, strong tendril of hair, and pulled him with her below the deck. 

——————

There were several blankets below dock, stashed away just in case. Entrapta deposited Hordak in a corner without saying anything as she pulled the blankets out with her hands. Her hair worked to remove his armor, which he didn’t protest. When she started peeling off the soaked clothing, he thought to protest, but something told him that he’d best let her carry on.

Besides, it was good to be out of the soaking clothes. 

She draped a blanket over his shoulders once he was undressed. Then dropped another over him. His dress was shaken off and draped over a box. Entrapta peeled off her diving gear- her normal clothes were still perfectly dry it seemed, and she came over to him, slipped in between the blankets, and wrapped her arms around his chest, then cocooned them both in her hair.

She wasn’t talking though. 

He slowly lifted his still freezing arms, and wrapped them over her shoulders. She stiffened, but didn’t shrug him off. 

“I thought I lost you.” She said again, very quietly. 

“...I’m sorry.” He said. “But.. Frosta was on the bottom of the-“

“Mermista was there. Frosta still had a tank of air. You could have come back up and Mermista would have grabbed her!” Entrapta snapped. Her hair puffed up, her grip on him tightened. “You promised you’d be careful.” 

Hordak thought back to Beast island. When Entrapta was so close to bleeding to death in his arms. He thought back to when he learned that she was on Beast Island in the first place, and how lost, how bleak the thought that she was already dead had been in his head. How much it hurt. 

He closed his eyes, and rested his forehead atop her own head. “I… I’m sorry.” He said. He didn’t want to do that to her. He didn’t want to hurt her, to make her worry. He didn’t want to. make her feel like that, not then, not ever. 

But he did because he hadn’t been thinking. She was right. 

His eyes started to burn, and he felt the warm tears start to well in his eyes, taking him by surprise enough that he allowed one to fall. His chest felt tighten, his breathing was fast, rapid, almost to the point of hyperventilation. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what he should do. He had tried his best, he had tried to… 

He had tried to do what was right? He had tried to do what was needed, he had made a stupid mistake, had been careless, had assumed that he had to do it all himself, and he might have truly hurt himself. He might well have died. All this time, he had been so worried about losing Entrapta, he didn’t stop to wonder what she would do if she lost him. He assumed honestly that she’d recovered from his loss- as Etherians seemed to do, but now, he felt awful for thinking such a thing. 

He pressed his eyes shut, and leaned into her, holding onto her tightly. He faintly realized that he was muttering, “I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry.” Over and over as he gave up on any sense of control, and let the tears fall in a constant stream over his cheeks. 


	28. Frosta

Entrapta fell asleep after a while. Hordak snaked a hand under her hair, and rested it on her shoulder once she had calmed down, and let her sleep. There was still a decided chill in his bones- he was actually worried about frostbite - he’d have to check himself when they got back to BrightMoon, but there was nothing to worry about for the moment, he hoped. 

His thighs were just numb and cold. 

Entrapta muttered something in her sleep, and shifted fitfully. He listened to her carefully, listening for the increased breathing, the crying, the whimpering that signaled her nightmares, but thankfully that didn’t come. He gently scratched her shoulder, hoping she’d calm down. When that seemed to work, he pulled her close, and held her tight.

He wanted to promise that he’d never make her worry again. He desperately wanted to tell her that he’d just stay safe, that he’d stay away from doing anything dangerous. Unfortunately, this was war. This was war with Prime, and that on it’s own was dangerous and foolhardy. Making such a promise now would be an outright lie. 

She muttered again in her sleep, and he gave her a gentle squeeze. For now at least, he’d listen to her. He’d let her baby him if she wanted until she felt he was better. If she tried to spoon feed him awful soup, he’d even eat it without complaint. 

Though he’d not be able to promise even to himself that he could do it without gagging. 

———-

Once they got back to the Carrier, Entrapta helped Hordak get dressed again- his clothes were thankfully dry by then, otherwise she’d had made him simply wear the plain wool skirt and his armor under his winter clothes- and they made their way to the carrier. 

Hordak worried that Entrapta would insist on keeping him wrapped up in his hair, which would be embarrassing, yes, but he’d said he’d let her do as she pleased. She didn’t. She actually said precious little as they made their way to the carrier, Entrapta simply keeping her hair around his waist under the coat, in case he were to fall. 

Each time he noticed her look away from him, or every time he expected conversation, and was met with silence, he felt his stomach drop. He didn’t know if she was angry or sad, and he didn’t know what to do about it. He wasn’t sure if anyone else noticed, because Mermista was carrying Frosta into the carrier, worrying over her. She was conscious again, but because they didn’t know why she had fallen unconscious ,they were worried. 

When they were bundled in the back of the carrier - Entrapta told Hordak to keep his coat on as it was very cold inside- Bow tried to start the vehicle, only to be met with what Hordak’s ears could detect as engine strain. 

“Engine problems.” Bow said as he got up again, “I’ll go out and -“

“I’ll go help.” Entrapta said. She hadn’t even finished helping Hordak to a sitting position when she said that, “It’ll be faster. Get the carrier warmer sooner.” 

“ I’ll need help getting the snow off the top of the carrier too..” He said. “It snowed while we were gone-“ 

Adora and Mermista, who had just been taking off their winter coats, nodded, and put their coats on again. Entrapta gave Hordak a quick look, then seeing that he seemed like he’d stay put for the moment, nodded and get out.” 

HOrdak and Frosta sat in uncomfortable silence for several minutes. 

“..So.” Frosta said slowly, “You.. Really can’t deal with the cold, can you?”

Hordak shook his head. “I am not designed for the cold.” He admitted. 

“Why did you go in then.” She asked. 

“Perceived necessity” He growled. 

“Right.” Frosta said curtly, then, softly, “Thanks.”

Hordak glanced over at her, quirking up a brow. The child was red in the face, looking at her hands.

“For helping me.” She said when he didn’t respond. “You didn’t have to.”

“I have been told.” Hordak said with a brief sigh. “It was… reckless.” 

“I’m sorry.” She said. 

Hordak frowned as he looked back at her, “Why? I very much doubt that you intended to fall into unconsciousness.” He looked away, “No sign of head injury, hopefully at BrightMoon, they’ll find out what caused you to-“

“It was me.” She said. She turned away, and wiped at her face. “It was me. Because…” She wrapped her arms around her legs, but didn’t continue. Hordak wondered if he should leave it at that, but if she was going to give more information as to why she was unconscious, then he could pass that on, and hopefully keep it from happening again.

“Because…?”

“Because… Because I fainted!” She said, crying out the last word as she put her face in her hands, “I fainted. I fainted because I saw that.. that thing.” 

Hordak blinked, confused. “The squid?”

“I fainted like some weak little girl!” 

“You...are a little girl though?”

That was apparently the wrong thing to say. She looked at him with fury behind the tears in her eyes, “Only Technically!” She snapped, “I've been ruling since I was eight! I’ve been fighting for the last year! I am not weak!” 

_ ‘Oh’ _ Hordak thought. There was a sentiment he understood. That fear that tinged her eyes now, that desperation.

“I never said you were.” He stated, being very careful with his wording. “I said you are a little girl. That is fact, no?”

“It is, but-“

“And as such, as a little girl, you’ve had limited time on this planet to experience all the wonders, and indeed, the horrors that it can offer.” He glanced at her sideways, “That creature down there ranks up with some of the top terrifying monstrous creatures I'd rather not have to deal with again. And I’ve travelled the cosmos. I’ve seen horrors you couldn’t believe.”

“It scared you too?” She asked, almost awed. Hordak felt his ears flick down. Scared wasn’t the word he’d like to use…

“It was disturbing.” He admitted finally. “It’s teeth were unnatural. What possible advantage is there to have spirialing teeth?”

“But you didn’t faint. None of the others did, and I Don’t think they’ve seen stuff like that before.” She looked away again, staring at the floor. 

“Again. I’ve seen worse.” He frowned, knitting his brows together, “And, I am unsure if my species can faint from fear.” He perked his head up, considering it, “I supposed if my aspiration increased rapidly and for enough time, I’d pass out from oxygen loss…”

Frosta looked at him in incomprehension. He sighed. 

“If I… were to experience fear, or anything particularly intense, Id start to breath faster.” He admitted. “If I got to the point of hyperventilation, and it lasted long enough, I’d probably pass out then.” 

“What could be worse than that thing.” Frosta asked him after being silent for a while. 

Hordak felt his ears flick down as he brought the hideous creatures to mind. “Corpus-Worms.” He said with a barely suppressed shudder. 

“What’s that.”

“It’s a type of worm… perhaps smaller than the worms you have her on Etheria, generally.” He had hated Etherian worms as well for a while, simply because they had reminded him of the Corpus-worms. “Their saliva has a numbing agent, and a dissolving agent. They land on you, get into your eyes, or your mouth, or even just on your skin as eggs, like tiny flecks of dust. Then they hatch, and when they start to feed, they feed on the flesh of the living. 

“That’s gross..” Frosta said, “And a little scary, but-“

“No. No you don’t understand.” He said as he turned to her, “I’ve seen people get infected, and one day they wake up, look in a mirror, and -“ he put his hand instinctively up to his face, his eyes wide with horror, “ dozens of tiny holes all over their face, or on their arm, anywhere really. They burrow holes all over your body until you get treated, or you die because they’ve started eating through your heart. “ He lowered his hand, and turned aside, “And that’s terrifying for everyone around the victim, because these things, they spread through the air. They get to the lungs, lay their eggs there, and then the infected person coughs, and these tiny dust like eggs go everywhere.” He shuddered. 

“You… you really hate them, don’t you.” 

“I had a bunk mate who got infected once. They quarantined the entire section, and treated all of us.”

“What’s the treatment?”

“Three days of.. well, basically a low grade poison that kills the bug. Makes you very sick in the meantime. Three others got visibly infected. Before the poison worked.” Another shudder ran through his body.” Those holes don’t heal up either. Not really. You just have this collection of holes in your skin for the rest of your life.

Hordak suddenly realized that his ears were pinned back and down, almost tilted inwards, protectively. He was clenching his jaw, and he could feel just how wide his eyes were. 

“Wow…” Frosta said slowly, “Never thought I’d see you scared before.” Hordak was about to snap back something, but she continued, “I...guess all things considered… That squid was pretty awful wasn’t it?”

Hordak frowned, and nodded. “Very unpleasant.” 

“And holes in your skin sounds like...Ugh… You’d have to live with them. For the rest of your life.” She scratched her arm, “Thinking about it makes me feel… ugh.” She looked at him quickly. “There’s none of them on Etheria, right?”

“There is not.” 

“And they wouldn’t be able to survive here, would they?I mean, if one of Prime’s soldiers were infected….”

A flash of fear ran through Hordak before he calmed himself, “I am fairly certain that the relative base value of the Etherian water would keep them from surviving. They need something a little more acidic. “

She relaxed a little, leaning against the wall. 

“You should tell them what happened.” Hordak said, “Otherwise you’ll be subjected to a battery of tests to determine why you passed out for seemingly no reason.” 

Frosta flushed, but nodded. “It’s embarrassing though.”

“It’s necessary.” He stated, “And the necessity of an action will overrule your personal feelings towards it.” 

Frosta looked him over, giving a weak grin, “That’s why you’re dressed like a purple marshmallow?”

“That-“ Hordak said as haughtily as he could muster with his ears tilted down and turning a slight shade of blue, “Is why I dressed to protect myself from the cold. Not that it mattered much in the end.” 

“Is… is all that why you don't’ want me involved in the fighting though?” She asked as she looked up at him, “Because I might pass out, or-“

“You are, as I said earlier, a child.” He said. “Children should not fight. It has nothing to do with what I perceive your skills to be at, or your courage in battle. It is simply ... not right for children to fight.” 

She nodded, and looked down. 

“But… You seem to be necessary in combat. As much as I hate it, that overrides my feelings towards it.” 

The door opened, letting a sudden blast of cold air whoosh into the carrier. Hordak pulled the hood of his coat closed around his face as the doors were closed, and Bow jumped into his seat and turned on the carrier. 

Hordak felt a burst of warm air blow out from a vent somewhere, and relaxed. Entrapta sat next to him, and while she didn’t speak much, she let her hair wrap around him as she worked on her datapad. 

“Hey.. guys?” Frosta said quietly as the others took off their winter coats, “I have to tell you something…” 

————

When they landed at Brightmoon, Entrapta hurried Hordak off to their room before Glimmer could ever welcome them back properly, stating that she had to check him over before they went onto the next phase of their plan. 

She rushed him to the room, closed the door, then started taking off his armor and his clothes again, pushing him to the bed when she was done. 

“Any lingering numbness anywhere.” She asked as she looked along his legs for discolouration, “I’m mostly worried about your legs, I - “

“I think I’m fine.” He said softly. 

“I’ll be the judge of that.” Entrapta snapped. She didn’t seem to realize that she had snapped until it was out of her mouth. She looked like she might apologize ,but then pursed her lips and started looking him over. 

“Entrapta.” Hordak said softly. 

“Yes.”

“I was stupid.”

“You were.” 

“I… “ he hesitated. He had thought long and hard about what he’d say to her in private, Trying to figure out why he had just sliced the cord, and dove down for Frosta. 

The answer he had settled on, the one that seemed right, had left him feeling sick to his stomach, and honestly ashamed. 

“I am not used to… not being expendable.” He said finally. Entrapta stopped what she was doing, but didn’t look up. “I’m not used to anyone caring if im alright. If I’m alive or not. Aside from myself, of course.”

“But you know I would care!” She said, looking up at him finally, “You know I-“

“I know.” He said, “I know you’d care if something happened. But in the moment, in the middle of it all..” he trailed off, considering his words. “I have not been… conditioned to rank my own safety very high up without direct orders. And even then, I have always been expendable.” He propped himself up on his elbows. “It is difficult for me to count my own safety for much when I am making quick decisions.” 

He sat up properly, shifting himself slightly on the bed. “I didn’t consider that… Personal feelings are secondary…” He frowned. This was hard to explain. 

“You don’t think you matter.” 

“ I know I do to you.” He finally said, very slowly, “But it’s a conscious thought. It’s… an effort to remind myself that anyone would be concerned if I was hurt. I have lived most of my life being entirely and utterly… Expendable.” 

“But you’re not!” She cried. She had tears in her eyes again. Hordak slowly reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, and was relieved when she allowed him to. She leaned into his naked body, and while she wasn’t sobbing, she was clearly distressed. 

“You’re not expendable to me.” She whispered. “I don’t know what I'd do if something happened to you.” 

Hordak gently nuzzled into her hair. “And I will… I will hold onto that.” He said. “I may not be able to convince myself that I matter. That I’m important. But I can convince myself that if I got hurt, that you would hurt.” He kissed the top of her head, “And I promise at least that I can take that into consideration… for future situations.” 

Entrapta nodded, rubbed at her face, and then pulled away from him, drawing a slight, disappointed sound from his mouth. 

“That… will be acceptable. For now.” She said. She looked him over, “How do you feel?”

He was tempted to say he was fine, but he wasn’t. “Honestly…. still cold. To the bones.” 

Entrapta nodded, and got up. “You’re taking a bath before we go to the Fright Zone.” She said. “You’re sure we can’t do that tomorrow?”

Hordak weighed everything in his head. He didn’t want to wait until tomorrow, honestly. He wanted to go today. He wanted to go and get supplies so he could start working right away. 

“What would you rather I do.” He asked Entrapta. 

“I’d rather you rest. Recover.”

“I’m not injured.” He admitted, “Just cold.” 

“I’d rather we rest. The poles are switched, we have some time now. We can take a day anyway. Besides, I don’t know if Frosta will be good to go either.” 

Hordak nodded. “Very well.” He said, “Let the others know our foray into the Fright Zone will. Be postponed.” He bit his lower lip as he thought about it, “That might be best regardless. We can go in fully rested, and more prepared.” 

Entrapta gave him a quick smile, leaned in, kissed him gently just on the side of the lips, and then got up. 

“Ok. Bath first. Then food. Then-“

There was a knock on the door. 

Entrapta quickly pulled Hordak’s dress over his head, and gave him a moment to adjust the fabric around him, and sit up properly on the bed before she opened the door. 

Perfuma was on the other side of the door. She had deep rings under her eyes, some kind of gunk on her cheek, and bits and pieces of plant matter in her hair. Her clothes were disheveled, and she had dirt smeared all over her arms. 

She held Imp before her. He was wearing the onesie that matched his and Entrapta’s sleepwear, and was eating a very large strawberry. 

He looked very pleased with himself. 

Perfuma deposited Imp into Entrapta’s hair, said, “I am never having children.” Before she turned and left. 

Entrapta walked back over to the bed, and set Imp down next to Hordak, who started scratching under his chin. 

“Top five worst things.” He said with a grin, “Maybe top three.” 

  
  



	29. Mate

A nice hot bath was just the thing to set Hordak to rights, so Entrapta said. Hordak himself had to admit that sounded rather nice. 

Unfortunately, for it to work to warm him up properly, it had to be hot not only to Etherian standards, but to his own. This meant that there was no way that Entrapta would be able to handle sharing a bath with him this time. 

“You go on.” He said. Bow had asked if she’d help him look over some first ones tech he had been trying to figure out. Hordak could tell she was excited to look at what he had, and to explain it. 

“You sure?” She asked, her hair wrapping around him. Hordak nodded. 

“Well, alternatively, you could sit and watch me take a bath. Riveting, I know.” 

Entrapta gave him a grin, “You’d be surprised.” She said coyly. “But I think I’ll go and help Bow if you’re sure. I want to see what tech he has.” 

Hordak gave a weak grin, knelt down, and leaned in to give her a quick kiss. He had only intended it to be quick anyway, Entrapta had other ideas, taking his face in her hands and holding him to her as she kissed him deeply, nibbling gently on his lower lip before pulling away. 

That was new. He didn't mind it. He grinned and stood up, then she did something else that was new and unexpected. Her hair snaked under his skirt, and quickly and suddenly flicked at his behind, drawing a sudden yelp from him as his ears flicked down, turning a bright shade of blue as he jumped slightly. Entrapta gave a slight giggle as she withdrew her hair and ran off without explanation. 

The door shut behind her. The room seemed suddenly duller to him, too quiet, too big. Hordak frowned, and turned to head to the bathroom to draw that bath for himself. 

————————-

In order to get the water to half the temperature he needed to properly warm up, he had to turn the tap full to hot, and only then was it close to what he needed. This actually made him feel better about everything; He felt that in the last handful of days, he had far more of his weaknesses exposed to the princesses than he wanted, but he could at least still manage the icy waters for short periods of time. Their taps didn’t even go hot enough to make him uncomfortable. 

He reached to the bottle of bubbles, and added it before he remembered that Entrapta was not joining him. Did most people use bubbles regardless when they took a bath? Was that the norm outside the Fright Zone?

He wasn’t sure. 

He let the tub fill as he went back into the room proper to grab the datapad. He could listen to more of the histories as he got the feeling back into his leg properly, as the cold seeped from his bones. Maybe he’d even get Entrapta to rub his back again -

Right. No Entrapta. He frowned again, looking around at the quiet room before he stalked off to the bathroom once more. 

He was too attached, he realized as he watched the tub fill, the bubbles, foaming up over the water. He pulled his thoughts back, trying to think of the last time they had properly spent time apart when they weren’t busy. 

There was the odd girl talk that Entrapta had with the other princesses, but he normally had something urgent to do in that time. Aside from that, it was when she was gone odd doing something without him, either underwater, or on Beast Island, scavaging supplies. 

In those times, he had spent the brunt of his time worrying about her, but that was to be expected, wasn’t it? He had done other things, but she had always been like a song playing in the background of his thoughts. 

There were the few days that he thought she had left him in the Fright Zone. Dark days. He wouldn’t think of those. 

He cast his mind back as far as he could, and he realized that from around the time she made his new armor, from his first rut onwards, they had basically been inseparable. They had slowly started spending all their time together, and when they were apart…

The tub was getting full. He turned off the taps, and quickly stripped off his clothes before he slipped into the water. He looked through the musical histories on the C.D in the datapad as his mind settled on a clear, undeniable truth. 

He was getting clingy. Or at the very least, needy. He half considered switching over to the biology section of the C.D again, to look through the information while he was alone, so he could figure out-

The thought of doing that, of going through the information without Entrapta there with him made his breathing quicken. Why did that bother him? Was he afraid?

_ Yes _

His answer startled him. One word in his head. Yes, he was afraid. He was frankly terrified. Knowing Entrapta had changed him, and apparently that was normal. Being with her, mating with her, had linked him to her. What else would change him? 

How badly could this hurt him?

He hadn’t realized he was staring listlessly at the screen when Imp flapped down from above, sitting on the edge of the tub. Hordak glanced up at him, and put the Datapad down. 

“I think I'm in trouble.” He told him with a sigh. 

Imp looked at him, his head tilted. The little brat could be awful at times, kicking him, screeching at him when he thought he wasn’t acting right around Entrapta, repeating things to him - or to Entrapta- at inopportune times. He was his brat though, and he could tell when Hordak was bothered.

He opened his mouth, and played a recording. 

“Hordak is going to kill me!” Perfuma said on the recording. 

“Well, we have to find him, that’s all.” Glimmer said, “I’m sure he can take care of himself. “

“What if he gets into something dangerous though? I mean… If he gets hurt, what IS he anyway? Is he Hordak’s pet? His child? He acts like a baby half the time, like an irate cat the other-“

“YOU!” It was Shadow Weavers voice coming out of Imp’s mouth now. “Get OUT of my Nightshade!” 

The flapping of wings, an irritated groan from Shadow Weaver, and Perfuma calling out, “There he is!” Then the obvious sound of someone falling forward with a splat.

That would have explained how dirty she was. Hordak gave Imp a little grin, “Good Imp.” He said. He reached out to scratch behind his ears, then realize that Imp was covered in dirt as well, though it seemed that someone had tried their best to clean him off. 

Hordak sighed, sat up, and started helping Imp out of the onesie he had taken to wearing. Imp needed a bath, and he might as well distract himself while he warmed up by bathing his irate-cat-child thing.

Ultimately, it took three tub refills to get him feeling properly warm again - the water kept cooling too fast for him. Imp didn’t mind though, he thought the build up of bubbles was the best thing he had ever seen. Imp couldn’t swim, so Hordak kept him propped up on a leg while he played with the bubbles, attempting to throw them at Hordak, and failing that, trying to make stupid looking figures of what Hordak figured was supposed to be himself, and Entrapta. 

“You know she’s still in BrightMoon.” He told Imp, “She’s just busy. She doesn’t have to be around all the time.”

Imp looked at him, rolling his eyes. Hordak sighed, and leaned back. “I know.” He said, “I’m being stupid.” He sighed and rested his head in his hands, “I used to be fine on my own.” He muttered. “What, I’m spoiled now by company?” 

Imp splashed him, and when Hordak looked up, Imp was looking at him angrily. 

“I just don’t want her to get sick of me.” He said slowly. 

————

Hordak was warm, clean, and dry. He was wearing the white fluffy housecoat that had been left in the bathroom since what he had been wearing earlier stank of the salt water. He nearly strode right out into the bedroom when his ears picked up the sound of talking. He paused, looked at himself in the admittedly too short robe, and decided it best to wait. 

“-Still don’t know why you won’t take me up on my offer.” It was Glimmer speaking, “there’s plenty of rooms in BrightMoon. I could have you set up in one of your own.” 

Hordak felt his heart drop into his stomach, he tightened his fist against his leg. 

“I really don’t want to.” It was Entrapta. There was a coldness to both their voices, but they were trying to be civil at least. “I like sharing a room with Hordak. Even before Beast Island, we shared a room in the Fright Zone-“

“I don’t need to know-“ 

“Well, that’s the facts.” Entrapta said casually, “He’s my boyfriend. I think more than that, actually. The C.D that Bow gave us from Light Hope keeps just referring to coupled Chilacians as “mates” so I think it’s better to say that Hordak is my mate.” 

Something about what she said, sent a pleasant chill through Hordak’s spine, even as he felt his ears twitch down and burn. He of course knew that she loved him, and that they were as Etherians could say, a couple. But those words from her seemed more important to him. It encompassed more. Boyfriend and Girlfriend seemed too flippant. ‘A couple’ was too vague. Mate was perfect, and he found himself wanting to hear her say it again. 

“I don’t know why though.” Glimmer said, “I mean…” She gave a frustrated groan, “You don’t think it’s weird? Yes, I know he loves you and all. The bonding, and all that, but.. I mean.. It’s Hordak. Lord Hordak. Of the Horde. Ruler of the Fright Zone-“

“Not anymore-“

“But he was when you two…. Bonded?”

“Had sex.” Entrapta said matter-of-factly. “Adults have sex, Glimmer.”

Hordak felt himself press his hands to his face, very grateful that he was hidden away in the washroom. Entrapta could be very blunt, which was useful most times, but as he pointed out, it meant that she could not be discrete. 

Imp, who was back in his still clean onesie, chuckled at him. Hordak, gave him a panicked look, and held a finger to his lips. For a horrible moment, Hordak thought that Imp would make a noise, and give him away, but Imp decided to stay quiet for the moment. 

Another frustrated sigh from outside, “You know. Something he said keeps popping into my head when I talk to you about him. ‘Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to.’”

“Yeah. He’s really smart.” Entrapta said almost dreamily. “And it doesn’t matter if it’s weird.” She said, “I mean. I’m weird. So it works.” 

“...You don’t have to be.”

Hordak was about ready to storm out there, embarrassed or no, half naked or not, and give Glimmer a piece of his mind on that one. Thankfully however, his mate (It made him smile to put that word to her.) could take care of herself. 

“But I am.” She said, She almost sounded happy, “I mean, that’s who I am. It’s what I am. If I wasn’t weird, I wouldn’t be me. I don’t want to change who I am, and Hordak likes me as I am anyway. Thats….. well, that’s ONE of the reasons I love him.” 

Another thrill through his spine, his heart feeling like it wanted to burst from his chest. 

“I mean, if you want more reasons why, I could show you a graph-“

“No. No, thanks. That's fine.” Glimmer said, “Just ... if you change your mind-“

“I won’t. But I promise that if I do, I’ll tell you.”

A moment of silence. A grunt that could have been. “Alright” or “goodnight”, and then he heard the door click. 

“Ugh!” Entrapta cried, “Emily, why do other people have to be so.. so-“

“Noisy?” Said Hordak as he opened the door, his ears still blue as he left the washroom. Imp flew out of the bathroom and belly flopped happily onto the bed. Entrapta gave him a surprised look, her hair frizzing out a little as she looked him up and down, “I didn’t intend to eavesdrop.” He said, “But.. I didn’t want to come out-“ He gestured to the robe, “And my hearing is pretty good.” 

“It’s ok.” She said. She stopped, looked at him as she chewed her lip, “I didn’t say anything ... wrong, did I?”

Hordak walked over to her, trying to keep his smile subtle as he leaned down, and pressed his forehead to hers before wrapping his arms around her. 

“Not a thing.” He said. “If… I am to be honest, most everything you said made me very… Happy.” 

Entrapta smiled, and wrapped him with hair and arms. She moved her face and kissed him quickly before she strode over to the bed to relax, “I was hoping we could look through more of the information on the Data Pad.” She said, “the biological information, if you’re up to it.” 

“I was half considering that as well.” He said. 

“Anything you think you want to look up?”

Before Hordak could answer, the traitor on the bed opened his mouth. 

“I’m being stupid. I used to be fine on my own. What, I’m spoiled now by company? I just don’t want her to get sick of me.”

Hordak felt his ears burn as he glared over at Imp. 

“Hordak!” Entrapta said, almost sounding hurt, “I wouldn’t get sick of you.” 

Hordak stood up, shifting slightly. He turned, looking for the nightgown he had. “I just don’t -want- to be to.. Needy.” He finally said. It was embarrassing to say that aloud - he should be better than that. “And… honestly I’m unsure if it’s me, or if it’s my species.” 

A light humming from Entrapta as she considered that. Hordak found the nightgown, and changed quickly as he threw the Bath robe on top of Imp, who hissed at him in response. 

“Well…” Entrapta said slowly, “If it helps, I don’t personally think you’re needy. Or clingy, honestly.” She shrugged with her hands and her hair, “I mean, I don’t know what things are really like among other clones, but.. I mean, you didn’t have a problem with me going to see Bow.” 

Hordak raised a brow, “Why would I?”

“Some people would be jealous if their…” Entrapta trailed off. 

“You … uh, said ‘mate’ earlier.” Hordak said, feeling his ears burn again, “I think that works.”

Entrapta gave him a sly look, “What, you like ‘mate’?” She watched as Hordak nodded silently. “Well then.” She said with a grin, “Some people would be jealous if their mate went off to spend time with someone who could conceivably be a romantic rival.”

A frown. “I.. did not consider Bow to be a rival?”

“He’s not.”

“And I… I don’t understand why I would be jealous?”

Entrapta gave him a big grin, “Id’ be worried if you were trying to keep me from working on my own projects. If you didn’t want me seeing other friends. But… you don’t. You like being around me. You like cuddling -“ 

“I tolerate it.” Hordak said, ears down. Entrapta gave him a look, 

“Please. Let’s be honest; while I tend to initiate most cuddles-“ She pushed him onto the bed, and cuddled into his side, “You tend to-“

Hordak didn’t listen to her finish as he curled around her, his hands running through her hair. Entrapta giggled, and wrapped her arms around him. 

“You tend to embrace it 100% of the time. You’re the one who will stop anything you’re doing if I start cuddling you, if I play with your hair-“ She reached up and started to play with Hordak’s hair as though to prove a point, causing him to melt into her.

“See. You’re very cuddly.”

He gave a faint grumble, but was too content to care overmuch. “Fine.” He muttered, “Just don’t let anyone else know.” 

He vaguely felt her stiffen under his arms. He paused, opened his eyes, and looked down at her guilty face. 

“.... what?” He asked. 

“... So. Girltalk.” She said, her face flushing, “That.. uh, might have come up..” she caught a sudden look of horror on Hordak’s face. “NOT IN DETAIL!” She protested. “I mean.. I don’t think so? I mean.. ok, maybe the-“

“It… It’s ok.” Hordak said, relaxing back into her. The thought of the other princesses learning that the great, mighty, intimidating Lord Hordak was ‘cuddly’ made him feel vaguely foolish, and more than a little embarrassed. 

“You.. I’m sorry.” Entrapta said, nuzzling into his chest, “I didn’t think it was supposed to be a secret now that you’re not leading the Fright Zone.” 

“It’s not…” He relented, “Just… Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter if they laugh-“

“They didn’t!” Entrapta protested, “Why would they?”

“.... you don’t think the idea of me. Of -me- being ‘cuddly’ is a little silly?”

Entrapta looked up, and regarded him for a long time, “nope.” She finally said, “Because I know you. I know YOU, Hordak, not some “Lord HOrdak of the Fright zone.” She smiled, looking up at him, “I know HOrdak, my Lab Partner and Mate.” 

Hordak couldn’t help the smile that came over his lips. He relaxed into her again, warm, clean, and happy. 

“And they didn’t laugh. They thought it was cute.” 

Hordak suppressed a sigh as what was fast becoming his new mantra rang through his head once more. 

_ Etherians are weird. _

He found it hard to care about what anyone else thought of him though, when he had Entrapta nuzzling into him, her hair cocooning around him, his chest feeling like it might burst he felt so happy. 

Eventually, Entrapta pulled the Data Pad over to them, and they flicked through the information,the choices, skimming the contents looking for answers that they couldn’t put into words. 

  
  
  
  



	30. Peace

“So. You can breastfeed?”

Hordak felt his ears burn as Entrapta asked him that. He cleared his throat as his eyes scanned the information on the Datapad. 

“According to this…” He said carefully, “If my mate - you- were to get pregnant, then when your hormones ..” He read the wording over a few times, “suddenly and dramatically changed” after giving birth, that would apparently produce some hormones in me that would allow that process, yes.” He narrowed his eyes, trying to ignore the burning in his ears, “It makes sense anyway. I mean, Etherian males can’t, with Chilacians, you have double the ability to nourish offspring.” 

“Technically, Etherian men can” Entrapta said thoughtfully, “But they don’t? Some do? I haven’t researched that in depth. I think normally they don’t because they don’t have the hormones to trigger milk production.”

“It’s stupid. Idoitic. Having both parents be able to feed their offspring is much more efficient, easier, and if anything happens to one parent, the offspring isn’t doomed.” He nodded wisely, “Etherian biology is practically a study in inefficiency.”

“Oh.” Entrapta said, her voice slightly teasing, “How is my “biology” inefficient?”

Hordak frowned, giving her a steady look, “Once every few weeks, you menstruate, and feel too awful for a day or two to do much with any efficiency. And because my hormones mirror yours….” 

“You get sick too.” She leaned into him, and soothingly stroked his hair. “Sorry, but it sounds like your species is a little inefficient as well.” 

“Only because I bonded to an Etherian.” He said. 

“Yeah.. sorry about that.” Entrapta said. He turned and looked at her quickly. 

“I didn’t mean it like a bad thing!” He said quickly, panic rising up in him suddenly, “I just- I mean-“

Imp, who had been watching and listening to them as they went through the Datapad while they cuddled on the bed gave Hordak an angry look, and crossed his chubby little arms. Hordak frowned, and with the same care and consideration he might have put into a speech to his soldiers, he composed an answer in his head. 

“I mean, I am very lucky to have bonded with what is clearly the best of the Etherians, and while this does mean there’s some inconveniences that must be endured, the occasional sickness from hormonal drops, and the …. Increased rate of rutting-“ He felt his ears twitch, “It’s all very much worth it.” 

Entrapta giggled, and started playing with his hair with both hands, scratching gently at his scalp as he relaxed into her. He felt a sudden, contented chirping emit from the back of his throat, and he stiffened instantly, embarrassed. 

“Oh you do that all the time.” She said, “though normally you’re half asleep when you do.” She grinned as she gently stroked his ears, causing them to flick under her fingertips. “Though, I do like it when you do it when you’re awake. Turns your ears a lovely shade of blue.” 

Hordak looked away, trying to keep his facial expression neutral. 

“What.” Entrapta asked as she looked at him, “You.. You’re not mad that I pointed out your ears, are you?” 

“Why would I be?”

“Because you’re shy, and -“

“I’m not shy!” He insisted. 

Entrapta leaned forward and gave his ears a quick kiss, “Oh. You are. “ She stated, “Back in the Fright Zone, I actually compiled a list of your behaviour, and cross referenced them with specific tells for various traits. You’re not shy enough to cause problems, but yes, you’re definitely shy.” 

“I have no problem speaking to any of my soldiers, or the princesses, or-“ 

“That’s why I said you’re not shy enough to cause problems. You’re fine when it comes to business or warfare or science. You get shy when it comes to personal information, or when dealing with non-aggressive emotions. Which you do a lot with me. So yes, you’re shy. Situationally at least.” When Hordak didn’t respond, she said, “I mean, I can show you the data if you want.”

She had been describing this all in a very scientific way, and hadn’t noticed Hordak’s expression becoming a little more fixed, his ears turning a darker shade of blue. She leaned in and kissed them again, “But that’s good. I think I like you shy.” 

“You do?!” He turned to her, surprised, “I … I acknowledge that you enjoy my….. hesitations and emotional… quirks when we’re more intimate, but -“

Entrapta gave him a big smile and hugged him close, “I just like YOU, Hordak.” She said, “and...I don’t know. I guess..” She turned slightly red herself. Her hair went to push down her mask as reflexive action, but of course she wasn’t wearing it - she had changed into her sleepwear a while ago, “I … I think I like that..” Her hair puffed before her face, “I think I like that you’re this big, strong, intimidating kinda person, but you get all shy, and your ears blush because of me. Because of your feelings for me.” She let her hair part just slightly so she could look up at him, “I think I like that a lot.” 

Clearly, Hordak noted, if that was true of him, then she was.. if not shy, then at least easily flustered when discussing such things- she was far too blunt to be shy. On her in was endearing though! She was a beautiful, adorable Etherian Princess, not a large, scary looking alien warlord. 

Hordak sighed, but felt himself relax a little. “I’m having a rough day.” He said, “You called out that I’m cuddly, you’re calling out that I’m shy.” He leaned into her again, letting her wrap her arms around her, “And I nearly froze to death.” 

“I know.” 

“Do you know how cold that water was?” He protestested, “Why does Etheria have such cold places? Why does Frosta live there? Why does ANYONE live there.” 

“You were very brave.” Entrapta said with an overly compassionate tone as she continued to play with his hair. “You did a very good thing. Maybe the others will stop pestering you so much….” She hummed as she considered it, “Though, Maybe not. They’re very curious.” 

A sudden shock ran through his spine as his ears flicked down, “They have no right to be curious about me!” He insisted. 

“They can’t really help it.” She said, “I mean…You’re different. You’re an alien overlord turned ally, and you’re my… My mate. They have questions.” 

“Well, they can stay curious.” He huffed. 

“No need to get all huffy.” Entrapta hummed. Hordak nearly said some protest, but she started playing with his hair again, and his protests were lost in a happy hum, and the chirping that came out from the back of his throat. 

“I don’t think that you’ll have to worry about the breastfeeding thing though.” She added as an afterthought. “Looking at these diagrams, I don’t think we’re really… physically compatible in as much as we thought.” 

He glanced up at her, even though all he wanted to do was keep his eyes closed and relax against her. She was frowning slightly as she looked at the Datapad. 

“Is that a problem?” He asked, confused. They had never talked about children - the very idea of them having any kind of family outside of each other, Imp, and Emily was almost comical to him. He assumed that it was the same for Entrapta, and for a brief moment, he worried that he had misjudged. 

“Well… No, no really.” She said. “I mean, hypothetically, if we ever decided we wanted a biological child, it’d be better to create an artificial environment for it to grow in so we can check its development, tweak it’s growth when needed-“

“Like the clones in the vitrines.” Hordak said. Entrapta had stopped playing with his hair for the moment, distracted by the possibilities going through her head. He wished she would continue though, it was harder to focus so much on his failures when she was playing with his hair. 

“Well. Yes, but not clones. I mean, I don’t even know if we could combine our DNA without tinkering with it. All we know right now-“ She pointed to the screen before her, “For the sake of actual reproduction, we’re incompatible. Externally things fit, but internally ...” 

“It just wouldn’t work.” Hordak finished. 

“... Is it bad if I say I’m not overly concerned about that?” She asked as she looked down at him, setting her hand back into his hair, “I mean, I never really considered myself a mothering type. I’m interested in the science behind it all, but not in the outcome.” 

“I do not think I am in the least suited for being a parent.” Hordak said firmly. 

To his surprise, Entrapta let our a long relieved breath. “Thank goodness.” Entrapta said finally, “I was worried. Talk of marriage and stuff. After people get married, everyone starts asking about kids and babies.”

“Right.” Hordak said, remembering that part of Glimmer’s treaty, “We’re going to get married if we survive this.” 

Entrapta smiled and shifted him so he was resting his head on her chest, “we are.” She said. “Never thought I’d get married either!” 

“I think I’ve said before that Etherian males are idiots?” Hordak ventured, “The fact that nobody had half the sense to see you for the brilliant person you are is a testament to that.”

There was a silence between them as Entrapta twirled his hair gently in her hands. Hordak was so comfortable, so content that he nearly dozed off until Imp jumped on him from above, landing on his stomach and driving the air from him. Hordak gasped for breath as Imp sat down on his chest, looking at him expectedly, demanding attention. Hordak sighed and started scratching under his chin. 

“And if anyone asks about children after we’re married, tell them we have Imp, and Emily, and that’s more than enough for us.” 

“You ever think you’d get married?” Entrapta asked, then added, “I mean, if there’s marriage in the same way in space-“

“It was not an impossibility.” Hordak said, “Though not like you’re used to it. If I lived long enough, got too old to fight anymore, but had managed to make a name for myself, Horde Prime probably would have married me off.”

“To who?”

“Who knows.” Hordak said, sounding particularly not concerned, “It was the only kind of retirement plan that existed for a clone, and it was primarily for political maneuvering. It was also exceedingly rare. I think it might have happened… Three or four times?” Hordak frowned, trying to remember, “A seasoned veterin who won a lot of battles on the field was one, Prime’s former general, and…. Oh, right, there was this one guard, and the son of emperor of a planet that Horde Prime was negotiating with was fascinated by them. They became part of a peace treaty.” 

“Would you have wanted to be married off?”

“It wouldn’t have mattered what I wanted.” Hordak said firmly. “I honestly think I would have seen being married off by Prime as being sent away to die again, just less violently, and with more honor.” He considered it for a long moment in silence and in the growing darkness of their room before he spoke again, “I think I’d have preferred a noble, glorious death on the field of battle.”

Entrapta wrapped her arms around him, cuddling him into her, burying her face in his hair. He could feel her breath through the strands, rolling over his scalp. It sent shivers down his spine. 

Hordak thought for a moment how Entrapta said he never really initiated any cuddling, how she always did it and that didn’t necessarily seem right to him. 

When she shifted again, he sat up, detangling himself from her hair and hands, and one leg that had been wrapped around his waist. 

“Hordak, what’s wrong?” She asked. 

“Nothing!” Hordak insisted, his ears flicked down as he looked over her, He frowned for a moment, wondering how he could do this smoothly. He shifted to her side, wrapped his arms around her, and lay back down. She was so small compared to him; he often forgot that because she always used her hair to compensate for her small stature. Not counting the long, thick lavender locks, she was very tiny and he was able to wrap around her entirely, his arms around her body, his legs bent up and fitting behind her thighs. Spooning, his research had shown. A silly term - he didn’t know where it came from. 

Entrapta giggled as he rested his head on her shoulder, nuzzling into her neck as he lifted a hand to her head, and with great care and forced gentleness, scratched her head. 

“Ohh… this is nice.” Entrapta said as she wiggled into him to snuggle closer. Hordak felt a grin cross over his face. 

“99%.” He said softly. 

“What?”

“You initiate cuddling only 99% of the time now.” 

Entrapta gave one of her giggles, ending in the adorable snorts that he had come to love hearing. 

“I think I can handle that.” She said as she rested her head on his arm. Her hair still snaked out around him, wrapping around his chest and his limbs as she dozed off in his arms. Imp managed to squirm past the hair, and Hordak’s arms so he could lay curled up next to Entrapta. 

Soon, he heard her gentle snoring, her steady breaths as she drifted off to sleep.

Hordak gave her a quick squeeze. He figured that once he had his supplies from the Fright Zone, they wouldn’t have time for this - not for a while anyway. They’d be too busy - they’d have far too much to do to prepare. 

He found that he was very glad that she had suggested they put off going back to the Fright Zone. He was glad to have this quiet down time with his mate. 

If we survive, He thought, maybe every evening will be like this. We could work on whatever we wanted during the day, and just be together in the night. 

A peaceful life- what awaited very few clones of Prime who managed to survive to old age, and who had distinguished themselves. One of the possible futures that Hordak had seen for himself, and not one that he ever wanted, not until now. Now that it wasn’t “A peaceful life with some political ally” but “A peaceful life with Entrapta” It seemed like a perfect reward for getting through everything. 

Even his banishment, him being stranded in Etheria had seemed like a good thing while they were working on the portal, sharing ideas, growing closer together. 

He gently kissed Entrapta’s jawline, and relaxed with her in his arms. He’d rest here quietly until she woke up, enjoying every second he had with her.


	31. Dead Zone

Hordak leaned forward, his elbows on the table, his fingertips rubbing slow and deliberate circles on his temples. Honestly, this would have been funny if it weren't such a hit to his ego. The fact that these were the people who had been resisting him this whole time put his own view of his capabilities in question. 

He had been quiet for several minutes now after giving a long, frustrated sigh which ended in a low growl. The other princesses were staring at him, all very quiet and unsure if this was terrifying or amusing. 

“Ok.” Hordak said with deliberate calm. He looked up, his face fixed in an expression of indifference, but his eyes were wide, and slightly manic. “Because you don’t seem to understand what we’re trying to do here, Let me go over this one more time.” He looked to Glimmer to see if she would try to interrupt him again, but her face seemed to be caught somewhere between amusement and horror, and she said nothing. 

Very slowly and with great care, Hordak pushed the map of the Horde territory to the center of the table. “This.” He said slowly, tapping on the map, “Is a blind spot in surveillance. There’s magnetized stones all over the place here that prevents radio or digital communication from being effective. “ He looked up, looked to Entrapta who was nodding, then to the other uncomprehending faces around the table which looked at him blankly. “That means, there are no cameras, and no communication in this place.” He flexed his hand, and with his claw he scratched an X on the map. 

“Now then.” He said as he withdrew his hand, “This means that it’s an ideal place to hide, say, a large transport to carry supplies. Because distance makes Queen Glimmer’s teleportation abilities less accurate, we will be getting as close as we can to the Fright Zone before we teleport. I don’t care if that’ll be a long, uncomfortable ride, we are not taking chances on this. Last thing we want to do is end teleporting into Horde Prime’s lap” 

Mermista gave a smirk, but stifled any hint of a chuckle.

He lifted up another map and set it over the first, “This is a map of the Fright Zone as it was when I was last there.” He said. “Now, MOST places in the Fright Zone are heavily monitored. However, I know for a fact that the third basement storage rooms have not had functioning surveillance in a while.”

Hordak glanced around the table again, silent, waiting for someone to ask a question about why there was no surveillance there. Nobody did. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Entrapta turning slightly red. His own ears drooped, but he didn’t acknowledge it, and nobody dared to comment.

“When we teleport into this storage room.” He said as he tapped at the map, “If we do this right, we’ll have plenty of time to work. I’ll set up short range radio communication while Entrapta sneaks through the vents and gets armor for everyone. “ 

Another look around the room. His eyes landed on Mermista, “I. Do. Not. CARE if you don’t think you’ll be seen by anyone because you’ll be in vents, on the roof, in the sewers, or hiding under Prime’s BED!” He shouted the last part, then took a deep breath, calming himself again. “Wear the armor.” He said slowly. “Just in case you get spotted.” 

“After we’re changed, Entrapta and Bow will take to the vents, make their way to the electrical grid, and cause some mischief. Imp will go to the throne room, and record anything that happens there. Princess Spinerella and Princess Netossa will guard Queen Glimmer and Shadow Weaver in the storage room. “ He glanced up, his eyes flicking from the very quiet Shadow Weaver to Glimmer, “While you may THINK you can be more useful in other ways, the two of you are our only exit strategy, so stay put no matter what.” 

“Princess Mermista and Princess Perfuma will take to the sewage system with Sea Hawk, and mess that up. Destroying the general plumping and otherwise creating some structural damage that can be explained away as bad luck will also be useful.” 

He glanced up at Adora - at least his old Force Captain had understood strategy, and had listened without interruption this entire time as he laid out the plan. “Adora and … Princess Frosta-“ It still galled him that a child was going to be in on this, “Will go with me to my sanctum. We’ll pick up what we can from there. With luck, most everything will be left where it was. Nobody else in the Fright Zone has any interest in my work, Prime certainly doesn’t. “ He caught a bitterness in his voice, frowned, and pushed it in the back of his mind to deal with later. 

“Now then.” He sat upright. “As I’ve said countless times before. THIS. IS. A. STEALTH. MISSION.” He glared around the table. 

“That means that we will NOT be attacking guards out of nowhere with ice fists. We will not be covering the Fright Zone in roses and apple trees. We will not be attacking anyone with geysers of water.”

“We most certainly will NOT be singing any shanties. Sea, or otherwise.” He glared at Sea Hawk. “Also, we will not be SETTING ANYTHING ON FIRE and CRASHING IT INTO THE FRIGHT ZONE!” He turned to Entrapta with a look of utter confusion on his face, his ears bent out somehow giving him a slightly panicked look. “Why would someone willingly DESTROY a vessel?!”

He was yelling again. He growled in frustration, put his head in his hands for a moment, then looked up at Entrapta, “How have these people been resisting me?” He asked, his voice taking on a tired, ragged tone to it.

Entrapta took out her data pad, and showed him a set of line graphs, “According to my observation, most of the successes of the Princess Alliance have come about from not following a plan, or by having a plan fall apart halfway through and needing to rely on improvisation thereafter.” She tilted her head as she looked at her data, “My hypothesis is that because the Horde is generally better at planning and execution of plans, the best plan of attack in the past has been no plan, which is difficult to, uh… plan for.” 

Hordak leaned forward, pinching the bridge of his nose, his eyes tightly shut. These people were idiots. They had been beating him with stupidity, They had been so stupid that he hadn’t been able to plan for their stupidity. 

They had weaponized their stupidity. 

That was the only logic he could come up with that allowed him to have a scrap of ego left. 

“Questions?” He finally asked. 

Adora stood up. “Do we have a contingency plan in case something does happen to Shadow Weaver and Glimmer?”

Finally, an actual question. Hordak let a flicker of a grin pass over his lips “Yes.” He said, “but none of them are great. That’s why keeping Queen Glimmer protected is a priority.” He sat upright and looked to Glimmer, “The moment. You’re at risk, you and Shadow Weaver MUST retreat.” He said. “Teleport back to the dead zone-“

“Why do you always name things so… scary?” Perfuma asked. “I mean.. Fright Zone.. Dead Zone...” Hordak gave her a glare, and she fell silent. 

“I didn’t name it. It IS a dead zone. No Radio Signal. Same with “Fright Zone”. I didn’t name it. A Fright Zone is what we called in the Horde as a chaotic and not necessarily safe encampment. When I started building, that’s what it was. ‘A’ Fright Zone.” Hordak shrugged, “It stuck, and became, “The Fright Zone” and I didn’t particularly care what it was called as I honestly didn’t believe I’d be around long enough to be concerned.

“Uh… Sir? The plan?”

“Right.” Hordak said, “Queen Glimmer. If you’re attacked, go back to the dead zone, wait for a half hour, then teleport back in, in the exact same place. Be prepared to teleport back out again immediately if necessary. 

“As for the rest of us, if Queen Glimmer is attacked, stop what you’re doing, and go back to the storage area through the vents. Wait for one hour. If she does not return, or if you cannot get to her within that time then -“ He pointed to the map again, at a series of pipes, “This is an old exhaust pipe. It used to go from my sanctum, and spewed forth some dangerous toxins. My lab is no longer in use, so it should be useable as an escape route. From there… go on foot to the dead zone.”

Hordak stood up, he was pretty much done, but be looked around to each of them. “I… I feel like I have to emphasize again that the plan is to NOT get caught. To not let them know we’re there. It’s a stealth mission-“

“We know.” Frosta said, rolling her eyes. 

“I don’t think you do!” Hordak snapped. “Stealth means you are not noticed. You do not engage the enemy. You do not leave any hint that you’ve been there. If we get out without being noticed, then we have more time to work on our plan to stop Prime. If he knows we’re there, he’ll act.” 

Nobody said anything this time. Hordak nodded, “Get ready then.” He said. “We leave in an hour.” 

Slowly, everyone got up, and started leaving the room. As she left, Hordak was sure he could hear Frosta whisper to Perfuma, “I still hope I get to punch that Prime guy.”

Hordak put his hand to his face and gave a long sigh. This was going to be how he died, trying to lead a bunch of princesses into combat. 

“Sir? Uh.. Hordak?”

Hordak turned, and saw Adora looking at him. She hadn’t said much directly to him since he had come here, save for questions regarding their stragety. She said his name with a slightly uncertain, cautious lilt, like she was stepping on ice to see if it would hold under her weight. 

“Yes?”

“Just.. Uh.” She turned away, her arms at her sides, nearly as though she was standing at attention. “I tried to get them to plan too.”

“Did you.” 

“Yes. They don’t like planning.”

Hordak brought him hand back up to the bridge of his nose, pinching as he gave an exasperated sigh. “Maybe next time I should use visuals.” he muttered, “Maps, maybe some tokens to represent…” He trailed off as he saw Adora shaking her head, her eyes wide. 

“No?”

“I tried that si-Hordak.” She said. “You… just trust me, you don’t want to get into that with them.” 

She looked like she wanted to salute for a moment, but then just turned and ran off. Hordak gave another sigh, wondering how badly they had managed to mess up a basic strategy meeting with one of his former force captains. 

“You doing alright there, Princess Hordak?”

Hordak glanced up, and saw that the only people left in the room now was himself, Entrapta, Mermista, and Sea-Hawk. At least he could put one plan into motion. Operation, “Never get called ‘Princess Hordak’ again.” 

“I’m perfectly fine, O’ Queen of Rock.” 

There was a beat of silence. He glanced up, and he saw a brief flush rise up over Mermista’s face as she looked from Hordak to Sea-Hawk. 

“Queen of Rock?” Entrapta echoed, her hair twisted with curiosity.

“What do you know.” Mermista hissed, glaring at him. For a moment, Hordak felt bad for Sea Hawk, who looked suitably horrified. His stomach twisted with… what, guilt? He promised himself he’d make it up to Sea Hawk somehow for what he was about to do. 

“You suggested I take an opportunity to get to know Sea Hawk.” Hordak said, deadpan, “I am never one to squander an opportunity, Queen of Rock.” 

“What do you know.”

“Enough.”

“Ohh, is it a good story? Why are you calling her ‘Queen of Rock.’

“If I ever get called ‘princess’ again,” Hordak said delicately, “Then I’ll tell you.” 

He and Mermista exchanged a long, tense stare down, then she turned, her cheeks flushed as she said, “that’s fair, I suppose.” 

Hordak nodded, and turned on his heel to leave the room with Entrapta at his side. When he was outside and the door was closed, he heard Mermista turn on Sea-Hawk, 

“I can’t believe you told him-“

“I didn’t think it was a secret!!” 

Hordak let a grin flick over his face. He had dealt with eavesdropping, girl talk, being called Princess Hordak, questioning, and a dinner. It was hard to feel too bad for Sea-Hawk when he felt like he had just a little revenge for his suffering. 

Though looking at Entrapta’s eyes which were wide with curiosity, he wondered briefly if it would be worth having that nickname just to tell her the story. 

————

The dead zone was the location of an old mining facility. There had been some useful ores here which Hordak had planned to have dug up many years ago but the difficulties with communication here, and the relative abundance of the necessary ores in other places in the Fright Zone made abandoning this location an easy decision. They landed easily, and gratefully rushed out of the transport. It had been a relatively long and crowded trip with them all cramped inside. 

Hordak stretched his arms over his head, and flexed his legs. He felt stiff all over from being unable to move too much during the trip. The one good part about it was that Entrapta had opted to sit on his lap as she went over her own diagrams of the Fright Zone ventilation system. Hordak’s normal joy over the closeness of her was offset by the glances of the others.

But they didn’t laugh. Entrapta sat on his lap, her hair twisted around him, and sure, Bow, Sea-Hawk, and Perfuma now looked like they were going to start squealing, and the others just glanced with confused grins before looking away…. But there had been no comments, no derisive laughter. 

In Prime’s Horde, clones were designed to not require touch, to get nothing from it. That he did was just an extra proof of his defect. It was not particularly unique, he remembered as his mind drifted to his younger days in Prime’s Horde.

———-

<<05h41.>> -attention, concern. Hordak, who wasn’t yet called Hordak, turned at the sound of their call number and read the concern on their supervisors ears. 

<<sir>> -question. Anxiety-

<<I’m assigning you an assistant>> -amusement- their supervisor waved a hand to another clone. 

<<greetings…>> -attention… then concern. The clones ears were flicked down in shame, bright blue with embarrassment. 

<<Show them how to program the robots and get them working.>> - amusement-irritation. The supervisor left. 

<<Are you quite… alright?>> -concern-curiosity. 05h41 tilted their head. 

<<fine>> -deception- it was easy to tell when another clone was lying, but normally in this kind of situation you overlooked it. It was considered polite. 

<<your call number?>> -curiosity. There was lingering concern as well.

<<70h67>> -nervousness- <<please, I like to go by DH.>> 4-1’s ears flicked suddenly in curiosity. The other clones ears dropped. Embarrassment. <<apologies, I->>

<<I have no concern calling you DH if you wish…>> -curiosity- <<But does it mean something?>>

<<no. 70H67. 70h. It sounds like seven-D-H. >> -hopeful- << It's more efficient >>

He nodded at this. It was indeed easier to remember and more efficient.

<<that is clever>> -impressed. 

DH’s ears perked up. Happy. 4-1 felt their own ears follow suit, then flick down. It was not common for a clone to be so easily influenced by the feelings of another. The other clones were starting to notice that, and they were starting to look at 4-1 funny. No matter, so long as they worked hard and did their job better than anyone else did theirs, they’d be fine despite their apparently sensitivity. 

<<Your number is 05h41. Shall I call you by that?>>

<<4-1 is fine when we’re alone.” -indifference- slight embarrassment. <<I will show you the programming systems. >> - serious- 

It only took an hour to go over the technical aspects of the programming materials they used. Everything else was logic. 4-1 set DH to work and went back to their own project after telling DH to ask if he got stuck.

It was several hours later when DW did get stuck. 4-1 was deep in their own project and didn’t notice DH get up and cross the room. They put a hand on 4-1s shoulder as they spoke. “4-1, I-“

They were simply not used to being touched outside of combat, so the otherwise casual gesture startled them, causing them to spin around quickly in their chair, their ears pinned back - startled, confused-

DH took a step back. <<apologies>> -deep shame-fear-horror. 

4-1 regarded the mess of emotions being sent out by their new assistants ears, then lifted a hand to silence them.

<<I am unbothered. But you will tell me what is going on>> anger annoyance << I was not slated for an assistant. You come here, my supervisor is amused, you look like you’ve just been heavily punished. What did you do.>>

<<I- well. That.>> -shame- they gestured to 4-1s shoulder, <<I touch too much. I don’t intend it. I do not know why I do. It irritated my previous brothers. They said I was weird and..>> shame. Humiliation <<perverse >>

4-1 gave a snort of derision- a rare gesture among clones. << that seems an overreaction >> -derision-irritation- <<you otherwise did your job?>>

Hesitation <<yes>> -confusion 

<<then I am not much concerned by a touch on the shoulder>> -indifference-<<I was not irritated: you startled me. Don’t sneak up on me if you intend to touch me>>

The slew of emotions that DH’s ears flicked through was impressive, but ended with hope, despite them still being blue with embarrassment. 4-1 felt their own ears flick -happy- but they got up and went over to DH’s screen before any comment could be made 

<<now, what is the problem here>>

It was hours later before 4-1 realized that they had simply said that DH’s quirk didn’t bother him, and had in fact not asked to not be touched

———

Clones were not designed to desire touch from other clones, nor to seek it out- not even the platonic touches and embraces that seemed so common among his own Etherian troops. It hadn’t been forbidden or punished necessarily, not in an official way.It was considered below the dignity of a clone. Base. Deviant. He hadn’t realized how much it was stigmatized until just this moment, with Entrapta on his lap and wrapping him in her hair. Everyone else just gave at worst looks of confusion. It now amazed him as he looked back how deviant seeking touches had been. 

No. Not just that. Being different in any way was deviant. Wanting to be touched just added an extra layer of shame for how animalistic it seemed to most of them at the time. 

He relaxed a little when he realized that, though his ears were still tilted down and blue every time someone looked at him for too long. Years of conditioning would take a while to work though. It did seem that his defect at the very least made him want to seek out touch himself - at least once he bonded to Entrapta. Or, was his ability to bond to a mate part of his flaw, and wanting to be touched was a part of that? Questions for another day - it was unimportant now.

Just before the old abandoned mine shaft in the middle of the dead zone, they stood in a circle, and prepared to teleport. Imp was on Hordak’s shoulder, holding onto his neck tightly and clearly not looking forward to teleporting. Entrapta took Hordak’s right hand in her left, and Perfuma’s in her right. They had to form a circle, apparently, to ensure they all teleported together.

To his left, Hordak felt someone grab his wrist. He turned, and saw Frosta, her tiny hand around his wrist as she reached out and took Mermista’s hand as they closed the circle. He let a confused frown overtake his face for just a moment before he felt something like static flow over him. He took a breath, and closed his eyes. 

He did not like teleporting, and he doubted that he’d like it more with Shadow Weaver and Glimmer ruling the magic that would teleport him. The static increased, he felt like the world shifted under his feet, and then they disappeared from the dead zone. 

  
  
  
  
  



	32. Reunion

Hordak wasn’t certain if it was because of the much further distance he was being teleported this time, or if it was because of Shadow Weaver’s influence over the magic that teleported him but when they poofed into the storage room Hordak had to immediately put his hand out to steady himself- he was suddenly dizzy, and his vision blurred. 

He could hear just fine though, and cursed under his breath. There was shouting, a sudden clattering. Combat, he figured. They weren’t alone there.

“Sir? What. What’s going on?” a familiar voice said. 

His vision cleared, and he was not prepared for what he saw. 

The Third basement storage room had changed a lot since he had last been here. All the boxes had been pushed up to one side, and door at the far end was bolted shut. Scattered around the storage room was what looked like little bunks made from old boxes, with ragged blankets hung over them. 

The voice that had asked him what was going on was Scorpia. She stood in front of a handful of other soldiers, all of whom he recognized. Kyle and rogelio were to one side of her, holding out tasers at the sudden invasion. Lonnie was at the other side, holding a metal rod. Behind them were two non-combatant Horde personnel that he recognized; A tall, humanoid lynx with a belly named Luk who managed the Horde kitchens, and Mel, a short, middle-aged etherian woman with white hair pulled back into a tight bun who worked in the medical bay. 

“Lord Hordak!” Scorpia looked from him, to the princesses, then saw Entrapta and squealed. She dropped her taser and ran up to her, just stopping short of grabbing her in a hug. 

“I was so worried about you!” She said. Her eyes filled with tears, “I thought. I was so worried you’d be dead, and I felt.. I mean…” She looked to the side, frowning, “I… I should have stopped her.” She finally said. 

“A long, thick strand of hair reached up and settled on Scorpia’s shoulder, “I know.” She said. “Hordak told me you helped him. You saved his life!” 

Scorpia smiled, then looked at the other princesses, her eyes lingering on Adora for a moment before moving on. “So..”

Hordak turned and looked. The princesses were ready to fight. Hordak held a hand up to them. 

“ I don’t think we need to fight here.” He said. He turned to his former troops, “Am I wrong? Are you working for Horde Prime?”

“... Sir? You’re no longer our commanding officer, right?” Lonnie asked. Hordak gave a quick nod. She frowned, dropped the metal rod, and crossed her arms angrily, “Well then…. Fuck that guy!” 

Hordak felt his brows raise in surprise. “I… See.” He said slowly. “What happened here then?”

“After you were taken away, he made Catra his second in command-“

Hordak knit his brows together, his ears twitching in confusion, “Not a clone then?”

“No sir. He was apparently impressed with Catra. But then he started… Well, there were problems. Things weren’t running as he wanted them to-“ 

“Yeah.” Scorpia said with a nervous laugh, “Man. I thought you were strict. Strict doesn’t cover it with Prime. If it’s not perfect, it’s garbage.” 

Hordak felt his ears droop a little, but shook it off. ‘Imperfection is beautiful’ he thought to himself. 

“So. Yeah. He was displeased with things, and …. Catra started throwing people under the tank.” Lonnie finished

“Yeah. It actually started with Jacob.” Kyle said. “Him and me. I was working in security, and Prime wanted-“ 

“He wanted all the footage from your sanctum, sir.” Jacob said. He had just come into their small shelter from a sliding panel in the wall. He had a stocky build, a red beard, but somehow, blonde hair. “But it all mysteriously got deleted. Prime didn’t like that.” 

Hordak took a sudden sharp breath, his ears flicking down sharply, “You had recordings in my sanctum?!” He snapped. 

“Yes? I mean, there were cameras there before I started working for you, sir.” He tilted his head, “You didn’t know about them.”

Hordak had vague memories of the old head of security, and his orders to put up surveillance all over the Fright Zone. 

Hordak glanced at Entrapta, who was also bright red. He took a deep breath to calm himself. Now was not the time to get distracted. “ Right. Why did he want that?”

“No idea, sir. He would not divulge that information to me. But when I couldn’t give him what he wanted, he said that I would be replaced. Apparently, “Replaced” to him means-“

“You’re replaced after you’ve been disposed of.” Hordak finished, his voice deadpan. 

“Yeah. So… that’s how me and Jacob got in trouble. So that wasn’t Catra’s fault.”

“But she did blame me when those drones that he sent into the Whispering Woods all got wrecked.” Lonnie said. “He demanded that I be ‘replaced’ as well. Scorpia got us all down here though. She was helping who she could… but then Catra caught her, and …”

Scorpia glanced off to the side with what had to be the saddest expression Hordak had ever seen. 

“Well.. I mean, she did her job..” Scorpia said.

“Stop defending her!” Lonnie snapped, “She’s... She’s changed, man. It’s like she just doesn’t care about people anymore… Just her position.” 

Scorpia shook her head, but didn’t argue. “But yeah… I got Jacob and Kyle out of the holding cell first, and while we can’t leave yet without getting caught, Jacob said that there’s no security down in this storage room. So we camped out here.” She frowned, “It seems to be a bad oversight... I mean, clearly, since you all got in through here.” She frowned, “How did you all know that this place didn’t have cameras and stuff?”

“Hordak told us.” Frosta said quickly. 

Scorpia looked from Frosta, to Hordak’s blue ears, to Entrapta’s red face, then flushed, “Right. Well, He knows the Fright Zone best!” She said. 

Behind him, he heard Mermistas nearly contained snicker.

“I don’t get it.” Frosta said, frowning at Mermista. “What’s so funny.”

“Nothing.” Hordak hissed. His eyes flicked to his force captains, and he remembered suddenly that most of the people standing before him had, at one point or another, gotten some form of confirmation that his relationship with Entrapta was less than professional. Frosta, much like Scorpia did, looked from Entrapta to Hordak, then her eyes lit up with realization. 

“Oh.” She said, uncaring and deadpan. “They were acting weird and kissing and stuff in this place.” 

Scorpia, Perhaps feeling bad for Hordak, raised her claws in a placating matter, “Well, it’s not like it’s a secret anymore. I mean, even before the thing with Horde Prime, everyone already kinda knew-”

Lonnie jabbed Scorpia in the ribs, “Shut up.” She hissed. 

Perfuma, who had been hovering around Frosta in case the conversation went to something a child shouldn’t hear, suddenly looked up, surprised, “They were public about it in the Fright Zone?” She asked, shocked, “I mean, that doesn’t seem -” 

“We were not.” Hordak hissed, his fists clenched as he let his eyes dart from face to face of the people in front of them, his embarrassed expression now focused into one of anger. Not that being angry at this moment could do anything, He was no longer their leader, but he hoped he could still put fear in their hearts. 

He could. 

Kyle instantly paled, and backed away, “I didn’t say anything sir! None of us did.” He gestured frantically to the others, “I mean, everyone already knew, even before the rumours about the lu-

“Stop.” Hordak hissed. 

Glimmer was the one who spoke up this time. 

“So,” She said in an amused, haughty tone, “They can’t keep secrets.” 

Scorpia rubbed the back of her head gently, and gave an apologetic laugh as she glanced at Hordak, “heh… worst kept secret in the Fright Zone?”

“So.. you all knew?” Entrapta said, red faced. 

“And that we did is the best kept secret in the Fright Zone.” Lonnie said firmly. 

Scorpia glanced sheepishly at Hordak, “I mean, It’s not really our fault.” She protested, “When you look at Entrapta you get this look on your face-”   
  


“Oh god.” Mermista said, feigning disgust, “That look where he looks like he’s melting on the inside?”

Scorpia gave a squeal, and clapped her claws together, “You noticed it too!!” 

Hordak looked down, pinching the bridge of his nose as he gave a heavy, defeated sigh. This was his life now. 

“Can we not?” He said, exasperated, “If we get this mission done successfully, you can all talk about Entrapta and myself as much as you want.” 

“What’s the mission sir?” Scorpia said, standing suddenly to attention

Hordak glanced up at his former force troops and personnel. “You’re not my soldiers anymore.’ 

“We’re not.” Lonnie agreed, “But as I said before, Fuck Prime. If you’re here to cause some trouble-” 

Hordak suppressed a grin, “discord and recovery.” Hordak said, “I need to get some equipment from my sanctum, my files…” He trailed off as he caught the look on Scorpias’ face. “What?”

“Ah. well. Sir. that might be hard.” 

  
“Why.”

“Prime took everything.” She said. “All the computer files were first. Most of the actual stuff was thrown out- it was damaged, but everything else in your quarters and your sanctum was taken.” 

“Where.” 

“The files were taken to Prime himself, personal articles were thrown in storage after examination, and any useful machines and stuff were taken to that weird lab-ship that he landed-”

Hordak took a step forward. He could feel his ears flex outwards in excitement, “Lab-ship?”

“Yeah, he landed this big thing on the south side of the Fright Zone.”

Hordak was silent for a few moments, his mind racing through probabilities, opportunities, and taking into account the new assistance he had. “Alright.” He said, mild excitement evident in his voice, “Change of plans. We’re stealing the lab-ship.” 

“Hey!” Glimmer said, taking a step forward, “I thought you said stealth was an important part of -” 

“It is! But you have no idea the tech that’s available in that thing! The most modern, advanced technology in the universe at my fingertips, all the best D.N.A modification technology, report and studies far more recent than I’ve had access to in decades, surgical tools, advanced robotics-”

“Ugh.. ok ok.” Glimmer said as she took a step back, “Ok. Yeah. I don’t think I could stop you OR Entrapta.” She glanced at Entrapta, whose hair was all puffed out in excitement. “Does that mean we don’t need the armor then?”

“No.” Hordak said firmly, “No, We still need the armor. I think we can take the ship without letting him realize it’s gone for a bit.” He turned to Jacob, “Do you still have access to the security files.”    
  


“Of course.” Jacob said as thought he had been suddenly insulted, “I created a backdoor for myself, in case it ever got taken over. I have all the same access as I had before all this happened… It’s just more troublesome to pick through now. 

Hordak nodded, “Alright.” he turned to the princesses, “For the most part, your roles stay unchanged. We’ll get the armor, set up the radio, and then you cause as much subtle damage and chaos as possible-”

“Yeah, that won’t be hard.” Mel muttered, “Strangely, some strong sedatives were slipped into the ration bars. Remaining troops for the most part are… Less than productive and attentive.” 

“Except for Horde’s Primes troops.” Luk cut in, “They don’t eat the food we provide.” 

“No, I imagine not. They’d prefer to eat their own rations.” Hordak grinned. This was perfect - Chaos was already starting to root it’s way into the Fright Zone, and he hadn’t had to raise a finger. His former troops were drugged, which would make navigation and stealth easier. Yes, Prime’s troops were still fine, but there were fewer of them in the Fright Zone, and it was unlikely that Prime would have them on simple guard duty. 

Hordak turned to Jacob, “Can you find the clips showing the ship, and find out how often it’s been accessed since Prime landed.” If it was being used frequently then Hordak wouldn’t be able to steal it, but it was likely that he brought the ship just in case it was needed, and perhaps knowing that he wouldn’t be able to access his main supplies right away once he got here. 

Jacob nodded and immediately took out a data pad and got to work. Hordak turned to his former troops, “Do you still have your armor?” He asked. They nodded. “Good.”

“And.. uh.. If we help you.. Will you get us out of the Fright Zone afterwards?” Scorpia asked. She glanced up at Hordak, then looked to Glimmer, “I mean, you don’t have to take us anywhere in particular, just… out.” 

Glimmer seemed a little taken aback at this request, then looked to Adora before looking back to the troops. 

“I’m.. I’m sure we can help you.” She said, looking away. 

_ “That’s odd _ ” Hordak thought, but he didn’t have time to think about why Glimmer was so agreeable to helping them when he seemed to hold such animosity towards him despite what he’d already done to protect them. Questions for later, perhaps. “Then get anything you’re taking with you put together before we go into this properly.” He said, “In case we have to make a very fast escape.” He turned to Entrapta, “You go get the armor, I’ll set up the radio.”

“I’ll stay in contact with my data pad until the radio signal is set up. The wireless on these things aren’t as secure as they could be, and they’re loud. I’ll just ping back with Y for good, N for bad.” 

Hordak nodded. “And no unnecessary risks.” He said. 

Entrapta gave him a sharp look, then nodded. 

“You sure it’s good to go on your own?” Glimmer asked as she went up to Entrapta, reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder. 

Entrapta twisted away from her hands, and put her mask down, and without saying anything took off into the vents overhead. She stared after her as his former troops went to gather up their things while the other princesses were going over a map that Entrapta had given to Bow. Hordak took out his own data pad, a small transistor, and got to work.

Glimmer growled, “I don’t know why she’s so mad at me.” She muttered. She didn’t intend for anyone to hear her, but because Hordak was relatively close, and because his ears were so sensitive, he heard her clearly. 

“Because you keep throwing our relationship into question? keep trying to convince her to stay away from me? “ he said, his voice low so others wouldn’t hear. He was a little surprised at himself, but he was irritated by how she was upsetting Entrapta.

Glimmer turned on Hordak, her face red from behind overheard, “I hardly think that that’s something to be angry at.” She snapped. 

“It is.” Hordak said deadpan. “And really, I don’t blame her. You put me under a truth spell. You’ve seen Entrapta and I together. Entrapta has suffered multiple ‘girl talks’ presumably mostly about me, AND you know about the chemical monogamy thing. I don’t know why you’re still trying to seperate us.” 

“Because you’re Hordak.” She snapped, “With everything you’ve done, I find it hard to believe that you could-”

“No.” Hordak said, deadpan as he started fixing some wires that came loose. He frowned, and dug into his pocket for a mini soldering pen. “No. No, that’s not it. If that were the case, you’d not have been so quick to start trusting Shadow Weaver, and she already betrayed your side once before. Now would you have agreed to help my former troops.“ He shook his head, “No. I won’t believe that it’s because I’m the former lord of the Horde.” He looked over at her, “So what is it. Really.”   
  


“I told you.”   
  


“I despise being lied to.” 

“You’re going to hurt her!”   
  


“I would never. I don’t even know if I’m capable, not now.”   
  


She frowned at him, looking angry, like she was about to slap him, then he saw a shift in her face. Subtle, but he couldn’t place it. 

“You might,” She insisted, “and if you do, it’s all my fault!” 

Hordak nearly dropped his soldering gun at that. His eyes went wide in confusion. 

“Excuse you? How would anything like that possibly be your fault?”

“I never said we should go back to see if there was a chance to help her. When we found out she was alive, we didn’t go after her. We should have gone back. We thought she was dead, but she wasn’t and we should have gone back-” great, there were tears welling in her eyes, “I should have insisted that we find the body-” Tears were spilling over now, “and it was my fault for not listening to Adora in the first place at the Princess Prom and being so obessessed over Bow and his date, if I hadn’t been so stupid I never would have gotten captured, they never would have had to come after me and Bow, and she’d never have been left behind in the first place!” She put her hands to her face, a choked sob escaping from her mouth. 

Hordak felt his stomach drop. Ah. Guilt. A powerful motivator. He remembered how he felt when he was worried that Entrapta might be dead on Beast Island. If she had been, he would have blamed himself, and what would he have done now. 

“If you hurt her, if she gets hurt because she’s in love with you, it’s all my fault.”

Hordak felt his ears flick down as he glanced around at the others. If they heard them speaking - which he sure they could since Glimer had gotten quite loud at the end there, but they were pretending not to - then looked to Glimmer. “Come here.” He said, shifting aside a little, “I need you to hold the wire in place while I fix this.” 

Slowly, Glimmer walked close to him as though he might swipe at her at any second. She knelt down, and took the wire he was gesturing to. 

“I’m not going to hurt her.” Hordak said in a low whisper. 

“You could.. You could break her heart. She’s never been like this before, and -”

“I don’t think I could do that either.” He frowned as he worked on the broken wires, his ears burning blue. He couldn't believe he was about to tell Glimmer this, but if it meant she stopped being so much trouble...

“Do you remember what.. Light Hope said. Chemical Monogamy?”

“Yes, but -”

“No.. No listen.” He frowned, “Entrapta is ….. Embedded in my mind. The thought of physically hurting her makes me sick to my stomach. The idea of ..” He hesitated, wondering why he was telling her this.”The idea of losing her, the idea that she might change her mind, as you put it.. Do you have any idea the absolute terror that put into me?”

“But… “ Hordak turned to her, and raised a brow, waiting for her to continue. “But… you’re Hordak.” 

“I am.” He agreed. “And I would do anything for Entrapta. Even if she looked at me, abject disgust and horror and hate in her eyes, and told me she never wanted to see me again, I’d… I’d go away.”

“... I didn’t think you could get more pale than you are.” Glimmer commented, staring at him wide eyed. “Your face just looked like it drained.”

“Well ,as I said, the idea of losing her is a difficult one for me to handle.” He fixed the wire, and nodded to glimmer, who let it go. “She’s the only good thing that’s happened to me since I landed here.I don’t doubt she could do better, but she seems content with me. And you said you’ve never seen her like this before.” He shrugged, feeling his ears burn, “Maybe us bring together is one good thing that happened because you left her behind.” He closed the radio, and turned it on. There was static, but at least now it was powered up. “Maybe you can feel responsible for something good happening from it all.”

Glimer looked at Hordak, her eyes wide with surprise. She was silent for several long moments before she said, “You’re…. Surprisingly insightful.” 

“I’ve been spending a lot of time lately in my own head. Figuring things out. I suppose it’s given me some insight. 

Glimmer didn’t respond. She watched him fiddling with the controls on the radio, trying to get the right signal. After a moment, she got up wordlessly and went over to Bow and the others to look over the map, leaving him to try to distract himself with needlessly tinkering their radio signal for better quality while he tried not to worry too much about Entrapta. 


	33. Check-ins

Hordak, Adora, Frosta, and Kyle were walking down the hallway leading towards the the storage room where his things were kept. The hallway was quiet and empty, apparently there seemed to be no need to have anyone on guard down here. Their footsteps echoed around them in the relative silence. 

Idly, Hordak pressed the com button in the wrist of the armor that had managed to fit over his armor. A buzz of static rang. Through his ears as the communication system bypassed the main Horde lines, and worked through the signal Hordak had set up himself. He winced at the feedback until the line cleared. 

“Entrapta.” He said clearly into the mic, “Status?”

“Still on my way to the electrical panel.” Her voice echoed back after a moment. “Me and Bow and Lonnie are still in the vents. We saw one person on guard duty as we passed an open vent, but they didn’t seem to be working very hard. Unless they were dreaming that they were working hard.” 

“Keep me updated.” He said back. He glanced at the others with him. He wanted to say more, to urge her to be safe, but it was an open line, and everyone could hear him. 

Another buzz of static in his ear. This time, Mermista’s voice echoed through the line. “Hordak.” She said in her deadpan voice, “I don’t think she needs to keep you updated. You’ve checked up on her 4 times in the last 8 minutes.” 

Unless you activated your mic, you wouldn’t be heard on the line, but judging by the shaking of Adora and Frosta’s shoulders next to him, he figured the rest of the princesses found this amusing. Kyle probably found it amusing as well, but he had been rigid with fear since Hordak told him he was going to storage with him. 

Entrapta’s voice came back on. “It’s actually been four times in the last 7 minutes and 32 seconds.” She said matter-of-factly, “But that’s fine. If he’s checking on me, I know he’s safe. Otherwise he wouldn’t be able to check on me!” 

Under his helmet, Hordak felt his ears burn. “I am just checking in becuase you’re in a precarious situation!” He insisted, “you weren’t able to use any armor.” It had been decided that Entrapta didn’t have to wear the armor because she needed her hair to be free so she could move around easily, and even if they were able to find armor that would allow her hair to be free, that would give her away. 

So no armor for Entrapta. It made Hordak feel uneasy. The idea that if anything happened, if she fell out of the vents, if she had to. Go into the halls for any reason, if she was seen by anyone, she’d be endangered. It made him feel sick to his stomach, and caused his breath to quicken. 

“Hey, I’m in a precarious position,” Mermista said into the mic, “Where’s my check-in?” 

A muted growl as his ears twitched. He narrowed his eyes, and turned on the mic, “You’re doing ok wading in the sewers, waste high in-“

“Sir?” Kyle spoke up, his voice shaking, “We’re here.” 

Hordak hadn’t noticed that they had already reached the storage area. The plain metal door in the wall stood before them, the number 2 painted on it in red. He took the Keycard that Jacob had procured for them all- a dummy card, he had called it, and scanned it over the card reader. The door slid open, and they walked on in. The room had rows and rows of shelves along wide corridors that reached well to the back of the. Room. A forklift was parked near the entrance so that heavier things could be stacked or retrieved higher up on the shelves. Hordak had no intention of using that. He didn’t want the noise to alert anyone who might be passing by outside. 

“Force Ca-... Scorpia.” He said into the mic, “2H4-8-HDS is the ID number for my things. Confirm.” 

“Confirmed, Sir.” She said back into the mic. “Packed and stacked it myself.” 

Hordak looked down the rows. Storage. Room 2. Isle h. He walked down the isle until he got to the fourth set of shelves, and looked up There, on the 8th shelf was a grey storage box with “HDS”- apparently stood for HorDak Sanctum- printed on the side in neat, mechanical painting. He hadn’t realized he had been clenching his jaw, or that his ears had been pinned back with worry. He had expected something to go wrong, and so far, nothing had. So far, this had all been very easy. He hoped it was because of the chaos that the others had caused beforehand, or because they were short manpower because of Catra. 

A part of him was positive he was being led into a trap. A part of him was sure that it couldn’t be this easy. This was Prime. Prime was bigger than he was, smarter than he was, generally better than he was. Hordak himself was just a failed clone, a bad imitation. Hord-Ak. A mistake of the Horde. He was sure that Horde Prime was watching him, knew that he was in the Fright Zone, and had anticipated every move that he had made so far. He was just waiting, and biding his time. 

The alternative was that Scorpia had managed to fool Prime. That Hordak had managed to deceive him with his continued existence. 

He reached up to take the box… and found that he was just a little too short. His fingertips brushed frustratingly against the edge of the box, unable to grab any purchase. With a frown, he pushed himself up on his toes, and tried to grasp an edge, the underside of the box, anything.

He couldn’t. He sighed and looked up at the box with his hands on his hips. He really didn’t want to use the forklift, just in case. Entrapta was on the other side of the Fright Zone, so he wouldn’t call her to help him get something down off a shelf like he normally would, and he wasn’t entirely sure that the shelving would take it if he tried to climb up to get it. 

“Can’t reach?” Frosta asked. Hordak didn’t answer, he just growled in response.

“Why not use that forklift back there?” Frosta asked. 

“Because of the noise.” Adora cut in. “If someone hears it outside, they might come in to check. We could probably talk our way out of it, but it’s better to not take the risk.”

Not for the first time, Hordak was very glad to have Adora around. He was glad that there was at least one other person who understood what he was doing, why he was taking precautions, and who understood the necessity of tactics. Someone he wouldn't have to explain himself to over and over and over. 

Soldiers. Trained soldiers. Not Princesses playing rebel, not children. 

“I have an idea!” Frosta said. Hordak was about to turn around to ask what, but before he could she had already jumped into his leg, and was climbing up him using the gaps in the armor to pull herself further up. He gave a startled curse in his own language as she did this. 

“What are you doing.” He snapped. 

“If I get up on your shoulders, I can get the box. Obviously.” She got onto his back, and nearly fell but Adora was behind her, helping her to his shoulders. She tried to stand up, but shook a little, and settled for sitting on his shoulders as she reached up and gently started to drag the box to the edge. Hordak lifted his hands up to hold the bottom of the box, to take a little of the weight off as she pulled the box forward. 

As the box came free of the shelf, the weight shifted. Hordak could hardly keep it in place with his upraised hands, Frosta couldn’t manage the weight on her own. The box teetered forward. Hordak pushed back in an attempt to right the sudden shift of the weight. They swayed backwards, and Hordak started to lose his balance. He acted quickly, pulling the box down and shrugging Frosta off his shoulders as he fell down, the box landing heavily on his chest and knocking his breath from his lungs as Frosta went flying, only to be caught by Adora who was standing by just in case. 

Hordak’s vision blurred as he gasped for breath. This box was a lot heavier than he expected it to be. 

“Sir! Are you ok?” He heard Kyle ask him over his gasps and coughs. Hordak managed a nod as he pushed the box off of him an onto the floor as he slowly sat up. 

Frosta jumped down from Adora’s arms, and ran up to him, “I’m so sorry, I -“

“Got the box down.” Hordak said, his voice still a little raspy, “it’s fine.” He Knelt down next to the box, and was about to open it, but hesitated. He felt his ears flick under his helmet. He looked at the others. “That probably made a lot of noise.” He said quickly, “go and check if anyone is coming. The lot of you. I need to check to make sure everything is here.” 

They went off, thankfully without question. He didn’t actually think that anyone had heard them - it was possible, but unlikely- but he did want to be on his own as he checked the box. If all his personal things were in there, there were likely a few things that he didn’t want anyone else to see. 

He pried open the seal on the box, and looked inside. There were two cardboard boxes - one which had been hidden under their bed when he and Entrapta had shared a room in the fright zone, and another that seemed to contain his notes, and harddrives holding some of his work. He had been worried that Prime might have taken them all, and kept this for himself. 

“Scorpia.” He said into the mic, “You said you packed all this up?”

“Uh.. yes sir.” She said. 

Feeling his ears burn, he glanced at the box with his personal things in it. That wasn’t what he intended to ask about. “Do you know if Prime looked at any of this? Specifically the harddrives and disks.” 

“As far as I know, he went through everything.” 

Hordak had made some minor discoveries and scientific progress on his own since he had ended up on Etheria, and knowing that Prime likely knew his advances was important. These were things he couldn’t use to surprise Prime in the future. There was also some early work that Entrapta had shown him about integrating First Ones tech to their own tech, so he could assume that Prime now knew about their work on the first ones tech. 

He glanced again at the other box, and felt a hot flush of shame run through his body. He also knew, clearly, about his other ‘research projects’ with Entrapta. He opened the box, and peeked inside. There was his harness, which he would insist was his backup harness - a strappy thing meant to be worn directly on his skin, and which could be worn under his clothing. It was easier to rest in, more comfortable, and while it had no strength enhancements, did ease his pain and made it easier to move. They had used it for other things in the Fright Zone, but now it would be a good backup harness in case his armor actually shorted out because of the irregular First Ones Gem that powered it. 

He glanced, confirmed the presence of the other things inside, was very grateful that he had a helmet on so that nobody would see his flushed ears, and Then he sealed the box back up. He took a deep breath, and tried to resign himself to the fact that, best case scenario, Horde Prime and Scorpia knew some of the more….. intimate and private details of his relationship. Worst case, everyone in the Fright Zone did. 

He promised himself that if he felt he had to, he could freak out about that later, when he was back in Bright Moon with Entrapta. Right now, they still had work to do. 

The others came back just as he was sealing up the box. “Do you have everything you need in there.” Adora asked, looking at the box.

“Everything I expected to find.” He said. “Some of my more recent work was still on my personal computers in my sanctum. Prime likely has them uploaded to his own computers now.” 

“So that’s a wash then.” She said. Hordak shook his head. 

“Not necessarily.’ He said. “Once we get to the ship we need, I can likely get into Horde Prime’s computer from there. The Horde computers on his ship are all linked to his main database on his private ship. Once we get out of range I can’t access it, but if I download everything to the computer ... maybe put it on one of the drives in the box here, then I can pull what I need at my leisure.” 

“Alright.” Adora said with a nod. “Do we bring that box back to storage first-“

“No.” Hordak said, “We take it with us. A few guards carrying a storage box through the Fright Zone won’t be suspicious.” We will get spotted, but so long as we don’t run, and don’t draw attention to ourselves, we’ll be fine.” He frowned, looked to the each, then to Kyle, “If anyone stops us, you’ll be speaking for us.” 

Even under the armor, Hordak could see Kyle’s shoulders tense up. “Why me!” He asked, a hint of frantic panic in his voice. 

“Because of that.” He said, gesturing to Kyle, “You sound scared. Passive. Harmless. Nobody is likely to question you. My voice is going to sound like a clone’s voice regardless, and they’ll wonder why a clone is in armor like this. Frosta sounds like a child-“

“Hey, I do not-“

“Because she -is- a child, and while for some reason Bright Moon sees fit to send literal children into the field-“ He couldn’t keep the bitterness and rage out of his voice here, “-cadets here don’t end up in armor until they’re at least 18.” He gestured to Adora, “And she’s been in combat too much against the Horde. There’s too great a risk that her voice will be recognized.” 

Kyle stammered for a moment, then nodded as he stood at a salute. Hordak made a mental note that this one needed to learn to be more assertive. In his mind, he was already wondering if assertiveness training would be a necessity in the Horde when he remembered that he wasn’t in charge anymore. 

A hiss of static in his ear, a buzz of feedback before Entrapta’s voice came over the speaker, Sounding slightly worried. “Hordak?” She said. 

Hordak felt his ears pin back in alarm. He turned on his mic. “Yes. I’m here. What’s wrong. Were you seen? Are you caught? Are you ok? Do you need assis-“

“I’m fine!” Entrapta said over the mic, “Just I hadn’t heard from you in several minutes, and I was starting to get worried.” 

Hordak frowned as he felt his ears droop. Adora and Frosta’s shoulders shook slightly. 

“I’ve acquired my things in storage.” He said deadpan into the mic, “We’re heading to the ship now. I’ll keep you updated.” 


	34. Ears

The truth was that Hordak missed aesthetics of the Fright Zone. The darker colors were easier on his eyes, and while he had indeed developed an appreciation for certain levels of comfort and certain arguably “cute” things, they were an afterthought in his mind. The grand, opulent designs of Bright Moon, the tall windows, the needless fountains, and the statuary that seemed to be part of the architecture was almost smothering in it’s forced beauty. He had gotten used to it, but walking across the Fright Zone reminded him of the simple practicality of efficient design.

He was never one for needless opulence. Even when he was Prime’s second in command, his own quarters had been simple- the luxury was derived from privacy, and the beauty came from one sleek window facing out into space, the stars, the planets, the free-floating paintings that were the nebuli which they often passed. 

He felt far more comfortable now in this plain hallway af dull greys and the green lights than he had in his and Entrapta’s new room/prison in BrightMoon. The only thing that made his new living situation better was Entrapta’s presence. BrightMoon could keep it’s grand flowery designs, he’d take this practical industrial design any day. 

But maybe when this was all over, he’d get a softer bed. Maybe have a few baths installed. Big ones with lots of bubbles for Entrapta. 

They headed down the hallways unbothered - they were just a small group of soldiers carrying a storage case which was so common that it was easy for the other soldiers that crossed their path to ignore them. When they finally ran into the first group of clones, Hordak was leading Adora, Kyle, and Frosta around a corner. They were very close to where they had to exit to get to the proper landing pad, and Hordak almost stumbled to a stop as his eyes fell on a group of clones in the middle of a large corridor, several of which were kneeling down with two vanguards stood over them. The vanguards still wore their white robes, their mid-length white capes, and they still wore their helmets - which Hordak felt was odd- Helmets made communication difficult, and they were often uncomfortable because of how expressive and mobile their ears were when they spoke. These chrome helmets did not look like they had enough space inside to accommodate much ear movement. The eyes of the helmets were formed to look roughly like their eyes, and the hint of pointed ears stood out from the edges. 

In combat, they had their heads covered. When Prime had landed, the helms were kept on to seem impressive. Why would they have them on now? Hordak found it disconcerting.

He held his arm out, stopping the others behind him,. They clustered around him, looking to the clones ahead. He heard a gasp from Adora before she whispered to him, “What happened to their ears??”

Hordak had been paying attention to the helmets on the vanguard. He hadn’t taken note of the other clones on the ground. They were servants, and thus meant to be overlooked. They were wearing only thin white shifts with Prime’s insignia on their chests, and they looked more or less like Hordak did, save for their white hair, the lack of black around their eyes and-

When he saw it, he felt a chill go through his body, and he suddenly understood why the vanguard had their helmets on still. Each of the lesser servants had their ears entirely sliced off. A twisted blue half moon scar marred the sides of their heads as they stared forward, emotionless, like robots.

From the helmets that the vanguard wore, he could assume they probably had the same alteration done to them. A simple slice of surgical steel through skin, muscle, and cartilage had robbed them of most of their ability to emote. Hordak had taught himself to be more emotive with his face since landing on Etheria and even to a point before that when he was playing the diplomat, but before that and certainly for the clones before them, the subtle and not-so-subtle movements of their ears were how they expressed themselves, how they added tone and intention to their language. It was how they could connect- in as much as clones did connect.

He felt sick. He felt his breath quicken. He felt dizzy. Why where their ears removed. Was that done to every clone now? When had it been done? 

He hardly noticed as one of the vanguards raised a very long, thin skewer towards one of the servants. The glint of light reflecting off the narrow surgical tool drew his attention to it and he moved, managing to block Frosta’s view as the Vanguard took one of the servants’ heads, tilted it forward, and quickly slid the precise surgical metal into the skin just above the neck. There was no sound, save for several gasps immediately around him as the metal pierced into the servants brain and ended his life.

The first time he saw this, Hordak hadn’t expected the sudden finality. He had seen death, he had seen people die in combat. This was different though, it was like a switch suddenly flicked off and that first time it had left him feeling more disturbed than if they had died in a bloody, screaming cacophony. 

Shaking, Hordak managed to push the others back down the hallway, signaling for them to be quiet. The death of the clones- that was normal, or at the very least he was used to it, even if he didn’t like it. The ears was a different thing. The subtleties of their language lost, degraded to imperatives and statements of fact alone, their ability to emote naturally removed and thrown away, creating a wall, a barrier between the minds of each individual. 

He had felt that isolation when he first came to Etheria. Cut off from his own people, around individuals who couldn’t understand his language, his ear movements, it felt like he had a mask on at all times, and caused a lot of trouble in his early days. He couldn’t start to describe the profound feeling of loneliness, or separation and isolation that he felt before he learned how to use tone properly in other languages - not something he’d bothered with before - and how to twist and contort his face to be expressive. 

  
  


Hordak didn’t realize he was being spoken to at first. It was only when he felt someone grab his arm that he realized that Adora had been speaking to him, that he realized that his body was still shaking, his ears twitching like mad beneath his own helmet, his breathing rapid and shallow. He stopped and forced himself to take a few long and deep breaths before he turned to Adora, trying to get his mind to catch up to what he had been saying. 

“Hordak? What was that?” 

“Their ears.” He said, hearing the tense and strained distortion of his voice “They sliced off-” 

“No. I mean, yes. But what did they do to them! Were they being punished, is that how Prime-” 

With his mind swirling he was only half able to contain the burst of manic laughter that was building up inside him. “Oh no.” He said. “No. That wasn’t punishment. If they were being punished he’d make sure it hurt.” 

“They got stabbed in the brain!” Kyle cut in, his own voice pitched and tense. “That seems painful to me!” He suddenly took a step back, as though he only just remembered that he was speaking to Hordak.    
  


“It was a precision stab to the medulla oblongata of my species.” Hordak said, letting the scientific part of his mind take over for the moment, “A little pinch in the back of the head, then everything shuts down. I’m not saying it didn’t hurt, but it likely didn’t hurt for long.” 

“But why!” Adora exclaimed. Hordak could only shrug.

“If I had to guess?” He ventured, “I imagine that it’s likely they fell sick from the atmosphere. It’s rather dense for my species, and can cause some problems. They weren’t executed, they were put down.” 

“But… but they weren’t dead! You didn’t die from-” 

Hordak sighed, shrugged off her hand, and kept walking. They followed, looking at him for answers. He figured he should give them what they wanted. They needed to know how Prime functioned, the brutal efficiency and cold resource management that was part of the culture of the Horde.

“Medical treatment likely exists that would have saved them.” He said. “But they were servants - easily replaced. Clearly, it was decided that the cost of giving them treatment was greater than the cost of replacing them, so they were put down.” 

“Wait… what?” Frosta said slowly. “They just… they killed them because they were sick?” 

”Efficiency.” Hordak stated. “If they were soldiers or generals, the value of their experience and training would have been added to their overall value, and potentially they would have been given medical assistance. Once the cost of the treatment outweighs the value of the clone, they’re put down. That’s just how Prime’s Horde works.” 

“.... but we had excellent medical care in the Horde” Adora said. Hordak nodded. 

“We did indeed. You had excellent medical care in -my- Horde.” 

“So let me get this straight!” Frosta said, her little voice sounding angry and indignant as she ran ahead and stood in front of Hordak with her little fists at her hips, “So, You said you were a general. His right hand man! You’re saying if you were sick enough, he’d have just killed you too?”

Hordak looked down at her, silent for a long moment. 

“I was sick enough.” He said softly, his voice deadpan, “That’s how I ended up here.” 

Silence. They were staring at him, and it made him uncomfortable. In the silence his mind went back to their ears, sliced off and discarded. He decided that no matter how embarrassing he might have found the various twitches and flicks and blushes of his ears, he’d never ever wish he could just remove them ever again. He’d go back to Brightmoon and straight up ASK Entrapta to rub his ears. He’d be glad when she started calling them cute. 

“But…” Adora said quietly, “They were executed, you-” 

“I am a trained soldier.” He said simply, “My last hours could have been spent doing something useful- dying in combat for Prime. Dying with honor and dignity.” He gestured down the hallway, “They were servants. They would have caused more trouble in combat that anything else. Would have cost extra lives because of inexperience and lack of training. I was sent to the front lines to fight, and die in combat for the glory of the Horde.” He shrugged, and walked around Frosta and continued down the hallway, “Apparently, I couldn’t even do that right.” 

  
  


\------

Hordak figured that it was likely stress that triggered their defect, or at the very least that it was stress that had made it noticeable. Dull aches in the pit of their stomach, a sudden increase in their breathing without any reason, a dull pounding of their eight-chambered heart that turned their heartbeat from it’s steady rhythmic beat to an almost frantic hum, and chest pain. It always got worse during moments of stress. 

It was the attack on Sol-Victor-3 that made everything escalate though. Hordak, who at this time was Horde-Alpha was actually overseeing the conquering of several planets across 4 solar systems. They had 5 underlings who were on location, taking their orders and implementing them while Alpha themself was on the mothership, organizing strategy. Sol-Victor-3 was being the most troublesome of the planets, so they had delegated that planet to what they considered to be their most capable and trustworthy underling. 

Alpha had honestly expected a message of surrender from the planet when DH called him on his screen. Alpha had, unfortunately been in a meeting with Prime when they called. They excused themselves, and went just outside the meeting room. 

-Anxiety-Concern-fear- <<We have a problem.>> DH said simply, but the way their ears were twitching told Alpha that “problem” was likely an understatement. 

-attention- worry- <<What kind of problem>>

-fear- <<The inhabitants are threatening to explode the core of the planet if we don’t retreat in one of their days. Approximately 12 Universal hours>>

-concern-pensive-Surprise <<they would not. It’s a bluff>>

-fear-anxiety-shame <<they may. They are backed into a corner. These people are spiteful - often if captured they will go to great lengths to end themselves to keep what they perceive to be the enemy from getting anything from them. If they believe they are losing.>> -impressed- respect- Frustration <<I believe that they would destroy their own planet to keep its resources from us.>>

A vicious curse passed through Alpha’s lips, getting them a very surprised ear quaver from DH. The resources were the most important part of that planet, and Prime would find its loss a colossal failure. Prime would also find retreat a colossal failure, and worse- a show of weakness. 

Alpha hadn’t heard Prime approach him as they considered their next action. They were so deep in thought that they didn’t even notice Prime until Prime spoke. 

-Curiosity- <<A problem?>> Prime asked. Alpha cut communication with HD before he relayed the information they had been given. Prime quietly considered the situation, ears twitching, thoughtful, pensive, plotting. 

-annoyed- <<use the sonic device.>>

Alpha felt their own ears twitch rapidly. 

-Horror- appalled- surprised- <<Impossible. We have troops on the ground. Not only would that cut off communications, but it would shatter their inner ears. They’d be defenseless to attack.>>

-pensive- << How many troops do we have on the planet>>

-thoughtful- hopeful << 248>> They replied. They had started with 250, the planet’s population was advanced, but low, and only two soldiers had died thus far. 

-Thoughtful- <<What’s the predicted fatality rate of our own troops>>

That was a harder thing to calculate. Half of their troops were currently in active combat. Another quarter were very close to combat zones, but hidden. They considered how the enemy might react when they noticed all the clones suddenly fall down with extreme vertigo, and the potential intelligence they may have had. 

-worried- disapproving- <<I’d say at least 60%. Probably closer to 75%, but we could see up to 90%->>

Prime’s ears were still with indifference, <<Use it.>>

-horror- <<Sir, it->>

<<Max casualty rate of 223. A small price to pay for the resources of that planet. The Sonic device will disrupt any plans they have to detonate their planet, and it’ll deactivate their electronics long enough for us to send a bigger contingency. When it’s done, return with 1000 soldiers and demand immediate surrender.>>

-hopeful- <<A retreat would->>

-angry- <<no>> the moment Prime’s ears pinned back in anger, Alpha felt themselves recoil and back away. There was fear, yes, but something deeper inside, that made their stomach churn, that made their heart beat and their breathing increase. 

<<We cannot risk being seen as weak.>> Prime stated. Prime turned to go back to the meeting room. 

<<D-....70H67 is planetside.>> they said carefully, <<Their capabilities in combat are->>

-annoyance- <<Impressive, but not singularly unique.>> Prime replied, <<Do as I say>>

  
  


Prime left. Alpha went back to their screen, and got DH back on the line. 

-concern- << Orders?>> DH asked. 

_ Hold position, fortify defenses. Prepare for incoming sonic.  _ Was what they should have said. They weren’t sure if DH was in a position to fortify defenses, but it would be something at least.

They opened their mouths to give the ordered, stammered for a moment, then stopped. Their heart was racing, their chest hurt. What was this? Prime was obviously correct - in the grand scheme of things, even if it was a 100% fatality for them, their own soldiers were easily replaced, and the resources on that planet were unique. It’s value far outweighed that of their soldiers. 

-confusion- <<Retreat>> they found themselves saying. << regroup on Sol-Victor-3-Luna-2. Await orders.>> -concern- << Retreat fast.>>

-worry-confusion <<What’s wrong>>

-worry- << Prime wishes to use the sonic device without delay. Get off the planet before it’s used.>>

They cut the communication, and turned to go back into the meeting room, but their stomach hurt strangely. Their heart was still beating too hard. They had disobeyed a direct order. Why? What would they say to prime? They couldn’t lie they- 

Alpha stepped into the meeting room, and saw Prime already on their own screen, speaking to their weapons department. 

-compliance- << Understood Lord Prime. We will engage the sonic device immediately.>>

-irritation- <<Very good. Await further instructions momentarily.>> 

The screen went blank. Alpha stood in the doorway, frozen with horror as they stared at Prime’s back, their ears down in fear.

-Irritation- << Do you mind telling me why you disobeyed orders?>> Prime said. 

-Fear- sorrow- desperation- << We have good soldiers on that planet!>> -anger- << It’s a waste to just let them die like that!>>

<< You think I’ve not calculated their lives into my decision? Useful soldiers, yes, but not more useful than the planet, and an intact reputation. They are all disposable.>>

-Anger- Rage- <<They. Are. Not.>> Alpha felt that pit of pain in their stomach, like they had swallowed hot rocks. Their heart was beating too fast. They were struggling to keep their breathing at a steady rate, <<They are good soldiers, and DH is a great leader->>

Prime’s ears went suddenly still <<DH?>>

-Shame- <<Apologies. 70H67>>

-Disdain-Amusement-curiousity << I never debated Their capabilities, But tell me what makes them more valuable than the resources on that planet, and my reputation?>>

-Anger-Rage-desperation- <<The resources -cannot- be unique. Their must be more somewhere else in the universe. Your reputation will be immediately fixed with our counter strike. My soldiers cannot be brought back to life>>

-confusion- amusement- <<No, but they can be replaced. They are not special special resources. They’re mass produced biological soldiers>>

Not special resources. Mass produced. Hundreds of their soldiers writhing in pain as the enemy bore down on them. Their heart hurt. They couldn’t breath. They felt the strength leave their legs as they went down to one knee as they gasped for air, hands pressing in the center of their chest. 

_ Something is wrong _ , Alpha thought. 

With still, indifferent ears, Prime observed him for several long moments until Alpha finally fell to the side, their vision blurring from hyperventilation. 

Finally, Prime reached for their call button. A beep, followed by Prime’s voice, << Send medical to meeting room 405>>

Alpha looked up, hoping Prime would help them. They were in so much pain, they were so confused. What was wrong with them?

Prime said nothing. Their ears bent and flicked, - Disappointment- disgust-


	35. Lab-Ship

Hordak’s breath wasn’t calming down. He hung back a little, letting Kyle lead the way, grateful that he wasn’t the only one who knew the layout of the Fright Zone. He was grateful to be lagging behind the rest of them; the others had been looking at him funny, and he was certain that his heavy breathing was obvious, despite the armor. 

There was static in his helmet. Glimmer’s voice came through their radio. “You’ve all been really quiet.” she said, “Is everyone alright?”

“Sewers are getting clogged up pretty good.” Mermista responded. “Hordak, what did you feed the Horde anyway.” 

Hordak had heard her, but his mind wasn’t really paying attention. 

“Hordak?” Entrapta’s voice ran out. That brought his mind to attention, and he noticed for the first time that Adora was looking back at him as they walked on. He turned on his radio. 

“Ration bars.” He said shortly. “Specially designed, has every nutrient you could possibly need. Synthesized by-”

“Ok. Just making a joke. Didn’t need a science lecture.” Mermista said with a groan. 

“Adora.” It was Glimmer again, “Everything going well with you guys?”

She looked up at Hordak again, then turned on her mic, “Yeah. we had to take a detour, so we’re taking longer to get to the landing bay. We should be there soon.” 

“How are we getting the ship out of there without it being noticed?” Glimmer asked. 

There was silence over the line. For some reason it didn’t occur to Hordak that he should have the answer, it didn’t occur to him that he should say something. 

He just needed his breathing to slow down.

It was Kyle who spoke up, surprisingly. “Uh. Well. If you need to make a ship disappear, we could do what we did with the transport we smuggled Hordak to Beast Island on.” He said, “If we can switch the location, have the lab ship designated as something mundane, like a refueling ship, we can take the refueling ship, and nobody will see it logged out and think it’s strange, right?” 

“Jacob, you can do that, right?” Lonnie asked. 

“Already working on it.” Jacob said. 

“Hordak?” It was Entrapta’s voice, questioning, an unmistakable hint of worry in her tone, “Let us know when you get to the ship?” 

“Yes. Of course.” 

The static background of the radio cut off. 

“We’ll get there soon as long as we don’t run into any more clones.” Kyle said. 

Hordak’s armor had been doing well since the repairs. Last time it had glitched out had been at the Crystal Castle. This time, he felt it a few seconds before the pain hit, giving him enough time to drop the storage case in his arms before he fell to his knees with a strangled cry as pain ran through him. 

Everyone stopped. 

“Wha- What happened?” Kyle said, running up to him, taking out his taser, “Are we attacked. “

“No.” Hordak managed to growl, “My armor glitched. It’ll be fine.” He pushed himself against the wall, sat, and allowed himself long, deep breaths.

At least now he had an excuse to stop and let his breathing calm down. 

“The armor?” Kyle asked, panicked, “Will ours-” 

“No.” Hordak said, “No. Not the Horde armor. My armor.” 

“Well just take it off.” Frosta said as she ran up to them, “Do you really need two sets of armor?” 

“Yes.” He said. He didn’t want to explain. He didn’t want to explain how his damned, degrading, defective body was slowly falling apart without the armor. 

“Why?”

“H-hey!” Kyle said, “If you need a second for your armor to reset, why don’t .. uh.” He turned to Frosta, “Why don’t you and I scout up ahead?” 

Hordak nodded, but didn’t respond. He was focused on taking long, deep breaths. 

That was enough of a distraction for Frosta. Looked up at him and said, “Yes! Let’s do it! And If I see any clones-” She formed an icy fist over her armor, “I’ll crush their arm-bones!” She ran off down the hall, with Kyle running after her. 

Hordak remembered that Kyle had, on that day when Kyle and Scorpia had gotten him to Beast Island, seen him without his armor on. Even if he didn't know what was wrong with him, he knew how frail he was without his armor. He hated that anyone knew, but at least Kyle was helping now. 

Adora leaned against the wall, her arms crossed as she looked around, appearing every bit to be a lazy grunt on guard duty. “So..” She said slowly. “You gonna be ok?”

“The pain will pass in a moment.” He stated between breaths. 

“I don’t mean that.” She said, “You’ve been…not yourself since -” 

“I’m fine.” 

There was a moment of silence between them. Hordak thought she was willing to drop it and let him catch his breath. 

He was wrong. 

“You know.” She said, “It was pretty common knowledge among the cadets that the worst thing we could do to you was to lie to you.” She said. “I guess that’s because you’re awful at it yourself?”

He didn’t respond. In truth, he was an awful liar. Among clones, there was no lying, the ears gave away any attempt at deception right away so he didn’t feel too awful that she had so easily seen through his deception. 

Ears. Clones. His breathing picked up. 

“.. if you’re injured.” She said carefully, “With the sword, I can probably-” 

He shook his head. “Not unless you think it can fix a defect in my DNA. 

“I’m not sure?” She said. She watched him as his breathing started to slow. 

“What..Lor-.. Hordak. Can I ask something?” She said. He nodded. “Back there. With the clones-” His breathing picked up- “You .. when we left, that they were just killed didn’t seem to phase you at all. You just talked about their ears.” 

He nodded, trying to keep his breath from accelerating again. 

“Why? Why was that so much more important?”

He took a while to respond. He didn’t know how he could properly explain this to her. He tried to control his whirling thoughts, the sight of the expressionless clones, the scars on their heads where their ears should have been was lingering in his head. He wasn’t sure he could properly explained how disconcerting an earless clone looked to him. 

“Do you recall.” He finally said slowly, “When we saw that Light Hope. When she spoke to me in my language, she projected ears as well?” 

“Yeah.. you said it was essential to your language.” 

“It’s more than that.” he finally said. “Among clone- Among my race. Chilacians, the ears have a variety of subtle movements. They add tone, inflection, and more complex meaning to the language-” 

  
“What?”    
  


Hordak frowned, “To simplify.” He said shortly, “Without the use of ear movements, the language is blunt. Commands, and statements of fact.” he hesitated as he considered how to describe it more fully, or if he should even bother. “As well, there’s no means in the language to make statements of feelings. Those are portrayed through the ears.”

Adora stood upright and turned to him. “Wait.. you mean-” 

“On top of that.” He continued, “I… I am an exception. I forced myself to learn facial gestures when I was still under Prime, when I had to deal with diplomatic issues. I have been among people for decades whose faces are expressive and as such, Certain… ticks have become habit. But for most of my kind, for most of the clones…. There would be no need. The faces would remain more or less expressionless.” 

“...shit.” She finally said, “It’s like… it’s like someone gagged them and cut off their faces.” she frowned, “Wait.. it didn’t look like that had just happened-”

“No. The scar tissue was well healed over.” 

“Then it wasn’t punishment. You said they weren’t being punished, so why would they do that?”

He had been so caught up in what had been done that he hadn’t considered the why of it. He leaned forward, thinking. 

Why had their ears been cut off?

“Sir- Uh.. Hordak?” 

“I don’t know.” He finally said. “I’m sure I could come up with some theories, but I don’t know.” 

“But you were his second in command!” She insisted, “You must have some idea why he’d-”

“No.” He said. “I don’t. He’s made .. alterations before, but that’s always been to improve our natural bodies-”

“What do you mean?” She asked.

“I doubt you want the technicalities.” he snapped. Honestly, even if she wanted them, he didn’t want to go through it all. He didn’t want to reveal how defective he was. “That I can hold my breath for so long, for example. That I need so little to eat, that I need so little rest. There’s a variety of tweaks he’s made to strengthen the Horde. To make his soldiers perfection. He’s even performed such alterations on himself.” 

“Right. You said he has a backup body?” 

Hordak nodded. “Yes. He’s perfected a means to transfer a mind, memories, and consciousness into a new body. He builds the new body, and transfers himself into it before discarding the old one. I.. was positive that I had the ability to replicate the process, but never got the chance to test my theories.” 

“Wait..” She said softly. “Wait.. Was THAT what the creepy jars in your sanctum were??” 

Hordak felt his ears twitch under his helmet. “Jars?” 

“You know. The weird green things with the monsters floating in them. Were you trying to -” 

  
“Clone a new body. Yes.” He admitted. He didn’t see the need to hide that information. “But I could not isolate my defect, and any attempt I made to alter fragments of what I thought was the defective DNA was met with failure.” 

  
“... Is Imp a… like.. Is he what you’d have looked like as a baby?”

He frowned as he felt his ears flick down. “More or less.” He admitted. “But he wasn’t meant to be a replacement, just a primary test. I did not alter his DNA.”

“.. But he’s been around longer than I can remember! Shouldn’t he have… you know.. Grown?”

“It… was not a perfect replication. As I said, I never perfected it. Imp was the closest I got to a living clone.” He clenched his fist as all the failed experiments ran through his mind. “Imp, for some reason, does not grow…. I’ll not bore you with the technical aspects.” Entrapta had enjoyed the explanation; the stunted glands that rested in the head, and their minimal hormone production had been fascinating to her. 

He doubted Adora would be interested. 

There was a silence between them, and Hordak realized that his breathing had slowed. He pulled himself up to his feet, testing the movements of his arms and spine. There didn’t seem to be any lasting issues with the armor. 

“Sir… Hordak, I-” 

The sound of footsteps interrupted her. From around a corner, Frosta ran down the hall towards them. A moment later, a staggering and gasping Kyle followed her. 

“Where does she have the energy.” He gasped as he approached them.

Frosta ran up to Hordak, “We made it all the way to the exit to the landing place.” She said quickly, “And there was nobody the whole way! If we hurry, we’ll get there in no time!” 

Hordak nodded, and picked the storage crate back up. He wasn’t sure what Adora had been about to say, but he was glad that she had been interrupted. He remembered how Scorpia and Kyle had looked at him when they got him out of his damaged and disabled armor. Horror and pity. The horror he could take. 

The pity, he could not.

\------

The lab ship was inconspicuous enough as it was. It was just a plain white ship with green tinted, mirrored windows. It had limited speed capabilities, no weaponry, and while it may have had the tech needed to, say, repair a damaged portal, it did not have the ability to power a portal on it’s own. When Hordak got to it, he realized that this one was likely an older model - it didn’t match the appearance of the newer, sleek chrome fighter-pods that were landed near it, and there was obvious damage to the port side which must have been suffered during landing in Etheria. All that explained why nobody had come to the ship since they landed - it would not be leaving Etheria. It was scrap. Junk. Broken. 

To Hordak it was the most beautiful piece of machinery he’d laid eyes on in a very very long time. 

“This looks like junk.” Frosta said next to him. He didn’t take his eyes off the ship. 

“This ‘junk’ holds the mysteries of the universe inside it. Technology beyond your comprehension, bio-tech, medicine, robotics, not to mention every scientific journal that’s been produced in the wider universe up to the point it came to Etheria.” He reached out and rested his hand on the side of the ship just over the panel that would open the door. For the moment, the earless clones were forgotten. 

There was a sudden buzz of static. Frosta’s voice echoed over their radio line. “We got to the ship.” She said, “But I think Entrapta’s going to be angry.” 

Hordak turned around confused as he looked at Frosta. Entrapta’s voice echoed over the line, “Why?? What did he do? Is he hurt?”

He managed to see Adora’s shoulders shake slightly as she suppressed laughter. Oddly, he didn’t care. He was already thrilled that he had this ship, hearing her voice, hearing concern in her voice, concern for him? His ears flicked down and warmed up, and his chest felt like it might burst. 

“Because the way he’s talking about this thing, I think he has a new girlfriend.” 

A chuckle ran over the line. Hordak felt his ears burn as he growled and opened up the panel. He took a chance on an older passcode and was rewarded by the beep of the door as it swished open. 

“Well.” Entrapta said, laughter still in her voice, “I can hardly blame him for that. So long as he shares with me.” 


	36. The hordak

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back after a little break for Christmas with the last chapter for 2019! Thank you all for reading this fic, and stay tuned for much more in 2020. 
> 
> So y'all know, on bad days, your comments make me happy - I love them all!
> 
> Hope your holidays were happy, and I hope you all have a Happy New Year!
> 
> -sincerly
> 
> -TWOTR

Though the outside of the lab ship was dirty and battered, the inside had been kept as clean and sterile as Hordak would have expected of the Horde. Rows of cupboards were magnetically sealed, all the supplies hidden behind the blank doors. He had no doubt that everything behind those doors were sorted alphabetically, neatly, and carefully. Drawers were under the sterile white counters, filled - he knew- with tools for experimentation, research, and if necessary, surgery. Overhead, the white ceiling’s brilliance was broken only by the tiny nozzles that would, with the press of a button, activate a sanitizing mist in case of contamination, or a spray of fire retardant chemicals if necessary. All the fun stuff was hidden away, and to Hordak, every closed door or drawer was a present waiting to be opened. 

Hordak wanted to run around and open up everything. He wanted to pull everything apart, and see what he had to play with, the new advances, new technology, the old technology that he’d be missing for so long. He wanted to take this whole ship right to Entrapta immediately. He wanted to see her hair puff up in excitement, her eyes grow big, and sparkle with anticipation. 

It took an incredible amount of will power to simply stalk over to the main computer, sit down on the computer chair - so comfortable. Ergonomic, the perfect height, padding in all the right places for his anatomy - and hit the power button. 

“Get in.” He said to the others, “Close the door.” He said without looking. He turned on his receiver. 

“We’re in the lab-”

“Oh!! Tell me all about it! Does you have the 3D Printers you told me about that time? The genetic synthesizers? The- “

“Entrapta, when we get this back to Brightmoon, you and I are going to spend hours pulling this thing apart and cataloguing every. Single. Piece of tech it has.” He hesitated, and glanced under the now fully booted and ready to work computer. “But yes, it does seem to have a 3D printer.” 

There was a pitched squeal of excitement. Painful, but also, music to his ears, “Oooh, I have so much I want to make, the first thing I’m going to make is-”

“Later, I promise.” Hordak said quickly, feeling his ears flick. He leaned forward- the last clone to use this computer still had his I.D on the screen, but the password wasn’t there. He pulled out the keyboard and started typing rapidly, trying to figure out the password. “How is the work with the electrical sabotage?"

“Oh! It’s done. Sorta. Almost. I mean, I could make everything blow now, BUT, I figured out a way to hook up the electrical systems to my data pad, so once this is done, I can make this cause all kinds of problems. I can make it all glitch at once, OR I can make it glitch over time and cause a bunch of little problems over time. I figured that would be less obvious than a big explosion… Though I would like to see what some of this would do if it did happen to explode” 

Hordak felt his ears tilt up, and a smile grace his face. “Excellent.” He said. “You’re brilliant; as always.” 

He heard someone behind him give an “Aww.” and his ears burned suddenly. He cleared his throat, and turned the radio on again. 

“Princess Mermista- “

“Mermista is fine.” Her deadpan voice echoed back. 

“_ Mermista _Then. How’s work in the sewers?”

“It’s all gone to shit.” 

Hordak sat upright in his chair, put a hand to his helmet. “What’s happened? Are you compromised, and do we need to evacuate?”

There were several long moments of silence over the radio. Finally, “Hordak. I’m in the sewers. Making a mess of the plumbing... It’s a joke.” 

He gave a deep sigh, resting his face in one hand. “Everything is going well then, I can assume?” 

“Yeah.. they’re not going to have a good time-” 

The voice of the Fright Zone’s former chief, Luk, came over the radio. “Especially since I snuck into the systems for the drinking water and accidently dropped some raw chicken that I just stole from the freezers into the water reservoirs.”

“You did what?” Hordak asked, confused, “Wait. How did you get to the water reservoirs?”

“Sir, we found ways to sneak around the Fright Zone undetected in the time we’ve been hiding.” Jacob’s said over the line. “It’s not ideal, and - no offense- you and Scopria couldn't manage it.”

“OK.. that makes sense.” Hordak said carefully. “But… why chicken in the water?”

There was a cacophony of voices over the radio suddenly, a shrill pitch of feedback that hurt Hordak’s ears and made everyone else cry out. 

“It makes most Etherians sick.” Luk said again. After a moment, he added, “In a way that will tax our already damaged sewage system. It’ll be messy.” 

Hordak was very glad he wouldn’t be around for that. “I see. Very good. Jacob?”

“I’ve switched the location of the Lab ship and an old carrier. I’ve not seen anyone approach it since it was parked, so I don’t think it’ll be noticed any time soon.” 

“Excellent. Mermista, take your group back to Queen Glimmer. Entrapta, check in when you have the electronics finished up.” 

“So. I have a question.” Glimmer asked, her voice echoing over the static, “Am I teleporting us all to the Lab ship thing before teleporting back to the dead zone, or-” 

“Once everyone is done and accounted for, you’ll teleport back to the dead zone with everyone but me, Adora, Frosta, and Kyle.” He glanced over at the flight controls at the front of the ship. They were a little different than what he was used to, but the Horde interface was easy for him to recognize. He’d be able to fly this back to the dead zone no problem. “I’ll fly the ship to the dead zone. After we’ve regrouped, we’ll head back to Bright Moon.” 

Behind him, Kyle groaned, “I’m still not positive they won’t just throw us into the prisons.” 

The computer chimed as one of the passwords worked and brought him to the main screen. “Bright Moon doesn’t have prisons.” Hordak said as the various systems booted up. He started working his way to the shared files, shared computers, looking for Prime’s computer. “They have modified guest bedrooms. With balconies.” 

“... That doesn’t sound secure.” Kyle said slowly. 

“I know!” Adora chimed in, “And they don’t have showers, they-” 

“Wait, what? They don’t shower?”

“They only have baths! There’s fountains in a bunch of the rooms, little mini-waterfalls, but they’re just meant to look pretty, not to drink from or bathe under or-”

“That…. That seems incredibly wasteful!”

“It is.” Hordak agreed as he found Prime’s shared computer. A part of him said the same thing it had said earlier, ‘_ too easy’ _but he ignored it for the time. What were the chances that Horde Prime had an alert on these files? He had no reason to have an alert - All these computers displayed their language, Chilician, which wasn’t exactly shared with anyone else for security reasons. Horde Prime believed Hordak himself to be dead, and clones simply didn’t rebel and break into his personal files. 

He tried to open Prime’s files. Password protected, of course. And while the computer in the ship allowed him multiple tries to get the password right, he had no doubt that after a few tries to Prime’s computer, he’d be locked out, and Prime would be alerted.

Hordak decided to try the stupid easy method. Could he make a copy of Prime’s computer files, save it to the Lab ships database, and simply try to access it later on? He attempted, but the computer beeped angrily at him, a dialogue box popping up. 

“That didn’t sound good.” Adora said. She had been in the process of explaining how the beds in Bright Moon were too soft to sleep on. Hordak disagreed that they were -too- soft, but they were needlessly soft.

“The computer demands administrator credentials to make a copy of higher level password protected files.” He said as he rested his fingertips back on the keyboard. 

“So… we’re out of luck?”

“Not at all.” Hordak said, “I used to be an administrator.” 

“And your password still works?: Kyle asked, his brows shooting up on his face in surprise, “That seems like a bad security flaw.” 

“It would be.” Hordak said as he gave the computer the password for Prime Alpha, “But the passwords are assigned through rank, not person to person, and if you lose your rank, you’re generally either not able to access Horde computers anymore, or you’ve been executed.” 

The computer chimed, and started making it’s copy. It would take a while for it to copy over - Hordak wasn’t just getting HIS files, he was getting everything. Most of what was in Prime’s computer wouldn’t be important to him right now, but he could sort through the needless files once he got back to Bright Moon.

“Sir?” 

Hordak looked up from the screen towards Adora who was looking in horrified fascination at something that looked like a mechanical spider with a long needle protruding from it’s underbelly. “What’s -this-?”

=============

Horde Alpha’s heart started to beat rapidly again, but the med-droid that was sitting on their arm picked up the change in their heart rate and quickly injected them with some kind of drug with a thin needle that slid easily and painlessly into their skin. Moments passed, and the dull fog that Horde Alpha had been floating in for the last day returned. They relaxed on the flat med bed that they had been set in earlier with their heart pounding, struggling to catch their breath. 

They didn’t like being drugged, but this was better than the pain, gasping. It had been humiliating when they were brought in. They hardly knew where they were , and they had been crying from frustration and pain. 

They had hardly even been able to think. They felt as though they had been drowning in a chaotic whirlpool of thoughts and worries, clutching out and trying to just grab one thing to focus on - and failing. 

The drugs helps. They didn’t know why but everytime their mind seemed to clear that same feeling crept over them. The chaos in their head returned. Their breathing increased. their heart felt like it was trying to escape their chest. Even on the drugs, they still had that feeling in their stomach. They could only compare it to having swallowed a hot rock that was burning its way through flesh.

Something was very wrong. 

Were it not for the fact that they were Horde Alpha, they’d be worried. There was something seriously wrong with them, and even a higher ranking clone would be in danger of being scrapped. But not Horde Alpha. Not the left hand general. 

Not them. They were important. They were successful, smart, and Intelligent. They had been the only one to come close to matching wits with Horde Prime, offering ideas and viewpoints they hadn’t considered. They would not be thrown away.

Deep in a drug haze, they heard a com screen signal in. Or was it out? Was someone calling in or out? Did it matter? Communication would happen. 

<<Status report.>> the voice of Horde Prime said over a speaker. Horde Alpha felt a surge of hope. The disgust that Horde Prime had shown earlier as they had been on the ground, gasping, that was to be expected. That would be all in the past once they were fixed. Once whatever was wrong with them was repaired. Once they were back to normal and doing their duty, Horde Alpha was certain that they would never see that look on Prime’s face ever again.

<<Horde Alpha isn’t eating.>> The voice of the medic said back in a crisp, indifferent tone. <<Complaints of stomach problems. Supplied nutrients intravenously.>> They didn’t recall that, but as they turned their heavy head to their right arm they did in fact see a line feeding something blue into their bodies. <<Primary analysis suggests multiple superficial erosions in the stomach lining. Medication has been intravenously, and within days symptoms should elevate.>>

<<And the other symptoms>>

<<Source unclear. Permission to perform a full examination?>>

A full examination would include a variety of scans, blood tests, DNA tests, and exploratory surgery if everything else brought no answers. They wondered how long they would take to recover after all that. 

<<Unnecessary.>>Primes voice cut back through, <<Get the hordak healthy enough for combat, and send it to the front lines>>

Hordak.

It. 

The spider on their arm picked up a sudden increase of heart rate, and hesitated for a moment before it went back to observation. Too close to the last injection. No more drugs for Horde Alpha

No. Not Horde Alpha. Hordak. Hoooooord-ak. Garbage. Mistake. Failure. Dispose at soonest convenience. Hordak.

They didn’t notice the communication cut off, but the medic came over to their bed, and took the bot off their arm. No point in wasting the good drugs on a hordak. They watched as something was put into the tube that feeding nutrients into their bloodstream. They didn’t know what it was, but they were certain it had something to do with Primes order to send them- 

-Send the hordak-

To the front lines. It was wasteful. Wouldn’t it be better to just let them starve? Why waste the resources to send them out into the front lines?

And why. What was wrong with them. Why were they being thrown away. 

The medic said nothing to them as they worked. Why would they. One does not talk to garbage. They were about to try to ask something, ask at least what they thought was wrong with them. Ask if the pain would stop. The medic might not answer, but they had to try, they had to-

There was buzzing as the door opened on the other side of the room, and for a moment the hordak hoped it was Prime, coming to announce some mistake on his behalf. Of course, it wasn’t Prime. Prime didn’t make mistakes. It was just two other clones that the hordak didn’t know. 

<<There’s been an injury.>> - concern- guilt. Why guilt? Did that clone cause it? << I need bandages.>>

The medic said nothing, but walked away from the hordak, and went to take a roll of bandages from a drawer. 

<<No. Not those. Bigger.>> guilt again, << it is a big wound.>>

The medic’s ears screamed irritation, but they went into the back of the med bay and towards the supply cupboard. The door hissed as it opened, then closed behind them. 

The other clones went up to the bed that the hordak was laying on. The hordak. That was all they were now. Hordaks were sent to die. Hordaks were a waste of resources. Hordaks were a mistake. Even their presence in a medical bed was a waste of resources. 

The very air they breathed, stolen from the mouths of more deserving clones.

<<I recognize this one.>> -hope- Anxiety. This clone had a paper crumpled in their hands.

<<Are you sure? What are they doing in the med bay?>>- curiosity. 

<<unsure>> - confusion- concern - <<I don’t know if they’re responsive. Their ears aren’t moving at all.>>

<<they’re drugged. Heavily, it seems>> - comprehension- << This is the one though.>>

The one with the paper leaned down, and looked carefully at his ears. 

<<movement. But I don’t understand.>> 

<<Horde Alpha>> Determination, <<We have a message for you. From DH>>

The hordak wanted to ask how they knew DH. why they were looking for themself. Why did they call DH ‘DH’. They didn’t know anyone else who did that. As they tried to vocalize their questions, they found that their tongue was too heavy in their mouth, their lips too numb. They felt a faint wiggle of their ears, and bursts of breath that might have been words if they had been able to. 

<<Very drugged.>> the empty handed one said. <<But I saw their ears move. They’re confused, I think?>>

<<We are DH’s Kin.>>

Kin. there was an archaic word. Dead. Unused. They weren’t even quite sure what they meant by saying that. Family? Allies? Friends? Perhaps all of the three? They weren’t sure. 

<<DH is alive.>> the empty handed one said, <<Your warning got a bunch of them off the planet and alive. >> - concern- << DH said you were not answering their messages, and was worried. >> - fear-concern- anxiety << They begged us to->>

They were cut off as the doctor came back with a very large bandage in their hands. They saw them talking to the hordak, and stalked up to them. << leave the hordak be.>> irritation << take your bandages. I have work to do.>>

Their ears signaled sorrow as they left, taking quick, backwards glances at the hordak before they left. 

DH had survived. Others had survived. They felt themselves relax into the drug. They wouldn’t get more, now that they were determined to be a hordak, but what was in them would keep the symptoms at bay. They could relax for a little. 

They tried not to think about the front lines. 

=======

“Hordak?”

He had been working on a program as they waited - a little something to help him crack open the copy of Horde Prime’s files when they got back to Bright Moon without forcing him to spend days hunched over this computer, testing password after password. He had almost missed Entrapta’s voice echoing from the helmet that he had taken off a while ago. The others had taken off their helmets as well, but Hordak had insisted that they all keep their armor on, just in case. 

He now put the helmet back on, and activated the microphone. “Entrapta?” He was almost certain that it was Entrapta’s voice that had echoed out at him. Now, with the initial burst of joy that acquiring the lab ship provided starting to fade, he found he was tense, breathing a little heavy. He could feel his jaw tensed. 

“Yup! Just me! I got all the electrical stuff figured out and ready to activate. I’ll be able to toy with this all the way from Bright Moon!” 

He felt himself relax, his ears lower slightly from their previously pinned position, his shoulders relax. 

“Excellent. We’re going to take off. Am I correct in saying there’s a fuel tank close to my current location?”

“Uhhh.. I think so? Yes. Yes there is!” 

“Ok.” Hordak got up, went to the pilot's chair and sat down heavily. He carefully put his hands on the controls. “Everyone, return to Queen Glimmer and follow your evacuation plans. Make that fuel tank explode just before you leave unless you hear otherwise from me.” 

“You’re going to blow up the Fright Zone?” Adora asked behind him. 

“I’m going to blow up a small portion, yes.” He said. “Horde Prime might investigate, but hopefully with everything else we’ve done, he’ll end up thinking it’s more a result of Etherian incompetence-”

“Hey! We’re not incompetent!” Frosta snapped. 

“-instead of actual sabotage, and the explosion will cover up our theft of the lab ship.”

The ship shuddered to life as Hordak finally powered it up. It wasn’t in great shape, it should have been running quieter than it was, and it should have started up easier, but that’s why it had been left alone out of the way. It was damaged. Broken. Garbage. 

Hordak grinned as this piece of abandoned garbage lifted up into the air. There was a moment when he was worried that it would crash back down to the ground a moment where it felt like the whole ship lunged under some strange weight, but then it righted itself. 

A part of his mind still screamed that this was all too easy as he navigated the ship away from the Fright Zone. 

  
  



	37. Crash

The battle took place around a medium sized mostly aquatic planet and it’s three colonized moons. The race that they were fighting was advanced in terms of -

Target locked. Fire. Target neutralized

-scientific progress. Nothing The Horde couldn’t deal with. The front line shock troops had been sent in for what was supposed to be a relatively easy win but-

Evasive maneuvers. A barrel roll in the void of space as missiles just missed the wing of the hordak’s small fighter. Turn. Target locked. Fire. Target neutralized

-They were outnumbered. If the hordak in the fighter had been leading the charge, they would have retreated for now, or used more long-range weapons to deal with the unexpected onslaught. 

But the hordak was not in charge. The hordak was just one soldier, following orders. 

Two other enemy ships came at them, one getting ready to fire, the other moving to flank. The hordak cut the power to their ship and let gravity pull it towards the nearest moon. The sudden change in trajectory threw the enemy’s aim;their missiles raced past their ship and hit the other enemy that had been to their side. 

Power back on, thrusters engaged, the hordak flew through the hostile space again, hoping that someone who could report back would comment on that maneuver to Prime. 

As the drugs had worn off in the med bay, hopelessness and panic had started to overtake the hordak. If they were defective, what was the point. Their purpose was to be a perfect clone, to lead. If they couldn’t do that -

Target locked. Fire. Target neutralized. 

-than what was the point? What kept them from just flying this ship into the nearest enemy vehicle, going out in a conflagration of fire and tech, at least being useful enough to kill one of Prime’s enemies before dying themselves. 

Some part of them said that was a waste. They were defective. There was something wrong with them. But in the short time they had been around the lesser clones, the ones who were never given a title, and were only meant to be fodder in wars that Prime faught, they had realized that -

Evasive maneuvers. Two ships collided close to their ship as they spiraled out of the way. Something struck them, and an alarm went off. Auxiliary thrusters were damaged. Not a big deal.

-They were different. 

The hordak wasn’t sure if it was a part of their defect or not. They had been separated from the lesser clones quite early on due to their leadership potential so they had never noticed how different they were. Their ears moved more - that had been embarrassing when they started, but they were mostly ignored. They saw patterns that the others didn’t. They had better insight on what the enemies might do, and why. They could put themselves in the minds of the enemy, and work out how they might react. 

Even now, defects and all, they had survived the battle so far when their casualty rate was at 60%. When it had been at 10%, they had thought themselves lucky. 30% and they wondered if they might actually survive. 40%, and with them still alive, they wondered if they along might be able to turn the tide of the battle. 

At 50%, they had a plan. Not a plan for the battle that was taking more time - it was difficult to form a plan when you were in the middle of combat with no higher information. They weren't even entirely sure of the full technological capabilities of the enemy. 

They didn’t like that. They weren’t used to having information kept from them. 

But they did have a plan. An idea. This was a test. They were defective, but if they could prove themselves, if they could take a battle in which the casualty rate was quickly approaching 70%, and turn it around into a win, they could prove that despite their defects, they were still worth something. They were worth the medical treatments and scans. After all, it was their mind that was important, not their body. 

And if they failed… well, they’d die right here. The only noble end for a hordak was to die in battle for Prime. 

(“Is the dead zone much further away? Hordak?)

Something went off near them. Too near. A burst of light, a strange sound which was quickly drowned out by the sound of various alarms going off all at once. They felt their trajectory change. 

(Hordak? Are you listening?)

They were being pulled into something. With a look, they saw that it was some kind of singularity simulator. Not a real singularity, of course, not a black hole, but something dense enough that it was pulling them into it. On instinct they reached out to hit the auxiliary thrusters, then remembered that they were damaged. 

They picked up speed, falling into the artificial gravity well that the enemy had created. Several other ships that had been a little closer had already been pulled in and crushed. If they ejected from their ship, they’d just be pulled in faster. They couldn’t escape the gravity well without their auxiliary thrusters, and they had no means to repair them right now. 

They froze, looking at their controls, listening to the alarms blaring all around them. 

Failure. 

(Hordak!)

They hit a switch to turn off the alarms. Various lights still flashed. They closed their eyes and leaned back in their seat. 

The greatest thing a 

(Hordak) 

Could do was die for Prime. At least they’d die with honor. Maybe they’d even be referred to in the future by their call number. DH at least would never refer to them as ‘hordak.” As a 

(Hordak)

Failure.

They kept their hands on the steering. They didn’t know why, there was no steering now. Just waiting. It’d be over soon. 

Maybe death wouldn’t even hurt that much. 

Something deep in their brain seemed to scream out. They tried to suppress it. Dying for Prime was the only thing they could do now. It was an honor. They wanted to do it. If they couldn’t prove themselves better, they wanted to die in the process. 

<<I don’t>> they found themselves muttering. Don’t what? They were confused. Scared? Even a noble death can be frightening, no?

<<I don’t>>

The singularity was closer as they picked up speed. Soon they’d be crushed. Soon the gravity would kill them before they were actually crushed, They hoped. They’d die with honor. Dignity. They’d die.

They opened their eyes, and leaned forward against the steering, panic rushing through them as the singularity, now with debris from other ships spiraling into it came closer. 

<< I don’t want to die!>>

They didn’t have time to consider this thought. They activated the thrusters again, hopelessly tried to turn on the auxiliary thrusters. They slowed slightly, but didn’t stop. 

(Hordak)

They couldn’t even die right for Prime, but they didn’t care at that moment. 

<<I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die. I. Don’t. Want. To Die!>>

There was a flash. 

At first they thought maybe the singularity had exploded. They were spiraling through space as new alarms sounded. Something had broken- one of the main thrusters by the feel of it, and they were sent in a continuous barrel roll. 

The light faded, and they could see ... a planet? They were close, actually. Too close. They were going to crash. When had they managed to enter the atmosphere? More importantly, how had they entered the atmosphere so quickly? And what planet was this? The ones they were fighting over didn’t have forests like like one they were quickly approaching.

A glance out the window and they saw their right thruster on fire. The left one was pushing them forward, causing the tailspin they were stuck in as they raced towards the ground. 

(Hordak! Are you alright?)

  
  


The slammed the eject button. Their pilots chamber turned into an emergency pod and went flying through the air, through very large trees, past a thick canopy. They struck something, the Pod broke open and they went flying through branches and hit the ground hard. Their breath was driven from their lungs, and they felt something break in their legs. Somewhere far behind them, their ship hit the ground. They tried to gasp for air through the pain but-

=======

A hand on his shoulder caught his attention as Adora’s shook him as Adora saying very loudly, “Hordak! Sir!?” Brought him back to the cockpit of the lab ship.

“What?” He snapped, irritated. His ears flicked down suddenly as he realized that he had been lost in memories and daydreams. 

“We asked… nevermind. Are you alright, you-“

He looked back and glanced at Kyle and Frosta. They had taken off their armor now, and they were looking at him with their brows knit in confusion. 

“I’m fine. Flight hypnosis.” He brushed off her hand and looked out over the sprawling landscape. It had been so long since he had flown a proper horde ship again, he supposed it brought back some memories- like a smell you’ve almost forgotten about bringing back stark, strong memories of the last place you smelled it. The endless landscape, and relatively slow movement of the lab ship had lulled him into a daze as well.

“You were saying something.” Adora said, sitting down on one of the benches behind him, “Was it important?”

“No.” He responded quickly. The dead zone was coming up. He was certain that he’d have come out of his daze when he saw the landmarks that guided him to the rendezvous point. “Just muttering to myself.” 

He slowed the ship, and started landing, trying to forget where his mind had just been. Trying not to let his thoughts wander to that crash landing in the Whispering Woods, and his first night in Etheria. 

“Sit down.” He said as he glanced backwards. Kyle sat down quickly, but Frosta was still standing.

“I want to see the landing though.” Frosta protested. Hordak shook his head, 

“I don’t know how damaged the landing gears on this thing might be. It could be rough, so sit down.” He brought the ship to a hover over the dead zone. With a quick glance down, he could see the speck of lavender that was Entrapta’s hair, waving up at him. Just like that he felt himself relax. His breathing came easier, his muscles loosened. 

It was then he realized that perhaps this day had overall been too much for him. He was ready to go back to Bright Moon. He felt his ears flick down as he realized he wanted to take Entrapta back to their room before they even went over the ship, and just get her to play with his hair a bit, to hold him while he told her what he saw. He knew the moment her hands went through his hair, he’d just melt into her. 

The ship landed a lot more easily than he expected. The others were already waiting by the carrier they had originally flown into the dead zone. His old troops stood off to the side by themselves while the other princesses and Bow were talking amongst themselves. They laughed at something. He didn’t know what - he wasn’t concerned about that. 

Once the ship was landed properly he hit the button to open the door. Kyle left first, looking a little queasy. Frosta ran out and dashed up to Queen Glimmer, talking quickly. 

Adora waited for a moment, watching him. “You gonna be ok?” She asked. 

“Of course. It’s just been a while since I’ve last flown.” 

She looked like she wanted to say something else. To ask another question. She didn’t this time. She just nodded, and left. 

Finally alone, Hordak leaned forward at the wheel, and took several long breaths to steady himself before he left the ship. Another hour or so and they’d be back at Bright Moon. Another minute or so, and Entrapta would be near him. Maybe she’d even wrap a strand of hair around his wrist. 

He got up, and left the ship. He was walking towards Entrapta first, who was gliding up to him on her hair. He thought that maybe she was planning to just wrap her arms and hair around him right there. He’d allow it, at least for a moment this time. 

Or he would have. 

He caught something in the corner of his eye. A flash of light reflecting off metal. He turned, and in a split second he had, saw the weapon and calculated the trajectory. 

He moved with speed and grace that he normally didn’t bother to expend. He shouted, “Get down!” And while his old troops hit the ground the moment the words left his mouth, While Entrapta - who was used to ducking when an explosion was immenant - dropped to the ground with her head covered, the other princesses didn’t move. They stood there, confused. 

More importantly, Queen Glimmer didn’t move. 

He managed to get to her just as the weapon fired, and pushed her out of the way. He wasn’t quite fast enough though, and the laser flashed through the air and cut a clean, deep line through her left arm, drawing a cry of pain from her as she fell to the ground. 

Hordak spun, and stood in front of her. All his vital organs were covered by the armor, which could easily take a laser blast if need be. 

Standing atop the now landed ship was a clone, not a vanguard, but a soldier dressed in white armor with their helmet shaped to look vaguely like a face. Complete with ears, to compensate for the ones Hordak knew they didn’t have. 

He didn’t have to give the order; Entrapta was smart enough on her own, and the clone didn’t expect a princess with prehensile hair. The laser was pulled from their hand, knocked to the ground and then pulled towards Entrapta before she got up and ran towards Hordak. The other princesses ran to Queen Glimmer, talking all at once, clearly thinking the danger was over. 

As the clone jumped to the ground with an easy, fluid movement, Hordak knew that the laser had been the least dangerous part of this situation. 

  
  
  



	38. Implants

Hordak let the princesses fuss over Queen Glimmer as he stood between them and the clone. Entrapta was at his side, the gun pointed at the clone and ready to fire, 

Useless. He knew that, Entrapta knew that, and the clone knew that - the Armor they were wearing would protect them from a laser, and they were covered head to toe. 

<<Stand down.>>- worry, aggression- << we outnumber you.>> even as he spoke, he was running their odds in his head. They did outnumber the single clone by quite a lot. They could probably kill them if they had to… 

Foolishly, he thought that he didn’t want to kill the clone. He had never wanted to kill any of them, but he knew that he had to… If it came down to him killing the clone, or the clone killing Entrapta, he’d do it, and he was sure they could.

But not without casualties. He hoped he could come up with a plan. Maybe he could even get the clone to surrender. 

“Do not speak that archaic language at me.” The clone responded in near perfect Etherian. There was no tone to their words, so it came out stilted and robotic, but the words were well understood. 

Hordak cursed to himself. Of course they knew Etherian. Hordak himself had to learn it the hard way, by guesswork and integration, but to prepare for Prime’s arrival he had created a comprehensive learning program, and with tech the Horde had at its disposal, a clone could learn Etherian in a matter of hours. Prime had managed it faster. 

But why was their language - Horde, or Chilacian anyway- considered archaic now? Questions for later. 

“Fine.” Hordak hissed, switching back to Etherian. The worst part about this was that he had just lost half of his plan. If the clone didn’t speak Etherian, he could have told the others what to do without the clone knowing what he was saying. “You want the ship back, I suppose.” 

“The ship is garbage.” The clone said as they took a step towards him. “Prime has no use for garbage. Taking it is a sign of insolence. Lord Prime wished to see who would dare sneak around his territory.” 

Hordak knew it had been too easy. They had been spotted at some point, and followed so the clone could get an identity to report back to Prime. He only hoped he hadn’t reported back yet. If Prime knew he was alive, then that could make things very troublesome. He had no doubt that Prime would come himself to kill him once and for all. Of course he would - his former right-hand general, the defect. The hordak. For such a display of insolence, Prime would take great offense, and kill him himself. Perhaps quite viciously. 

The clone flexed their hands. Without a laser, it seemed their claws would be the next best weapon, and they weren’t wrong. The armored gauntlet pulled back, allowing their hands to move more freely, and allowed their claws to extend fully. Hordak got ready to attack, hoping the others would offer some backup. On his own, he wouldn’t be able to take this clone - the clone’s armor had fuller coverage, and this clone wasn’t defective, so they could move with speed and grace. 

The laser in Entrapta’s hands went off. The moment the gauntlets receded, she fired, aiming for one of the clone’s hands. She missed. To be fair, she wasn’t trained to use a laser gun. The shot struck the armored forearm of the clone, and bounced off. The moment the laser had fired, the clone moved. They rushed forward, dodged under Hordak’s claws as Hordak tried to stop them, to damage the armor. 

To do something. 

Instead, he clawed fruitlessly at the air as the clone lunged forward, sliced at Entrapta’s hand that held the laser, then at her face. 

Over the years, Hordak had noted that many species -his included- had a strange kind of reflex in certain situations. In moments of extreme peril or danger there’s a feeling like time is slowing. The seconds draw out and feel so much longer than they actually are. The reason for this - it had been suggested- was so that the brain had more time to react to what was happening. 

Hordak had no thoughts though. Time slowed. Blood gushed from Entrapta’s hand as the laser dropped to the ground. He could almost see the tendons in her wrist snap. She fell backwards, slowly, four long gashes on her face casting tiny droplets of glittering red over the dusty ground. 

His heart was beating. It was beating so hard it hurt. 

Her eyes seemed to glaze over as she fell, her hair falling limp around her, the blood oozing from the wounds, painting her skin red. Her eyes rolled back. 

A part of him screamed that it was just shock. Another part of him felt like his head was going to explode. Like something was pressing on his skull, and trying to pull his head from his body. His vision blurred at the edges. 

She hit the ground. There was a cry that he didn’t think was his, and which sounded distorted and muffled due to the rushing of his own blood through his body. Her blood gushed out of her. 

His vision went white. Then red. 

===========

===========

All eyes were on Entrapta as she fell to the ground. Adora had already taken her sword out, turning into She-ra so she could heal the wounds. The Fright Zone soldiers took out the tasers they had - though none of them thought that a taser would be much use. 

The princesses got ready to use their powers, to use all their strength to take down this clone. 

Then they heard the scream. A scream like nothing they had ever heard before, like three voices having a pitched, rage filled screech pulled from them. They turned to the source, to Hordak as he moved. 

He moved so fast that they scarcely saw him move. He lunged towards the clone, his mouth opened as that horrible screech came from his mouth, his teeth had turned black. His eyes were wider than they’d ever seen them before, and they too had turned black with tunnel like red pupils that seemed like small spots in the black void of his eyes. 

The clone was still faster, and swiped at Hordak, catching them in the face, near the eye, and tearing through the side of Hordak’s face before they caught the lower edge of his ear, but even as the blue blood seeped from his face, Hordak didn’t react. He reached out, and sliced at the helm of the clone, almost thrashing as he attacked. 

It worked. Hordaks’ strong claws managed to break the helm which fell apart and off the clones head, exposing their earless head, and their own still red eyes which watched Hordak without expression.

Hordak swiped again, his claws going for the clone’s face. His fingers punctured the clone’s cheek and drove into his mouth as he ignored the clone’s own claws ripping and clawing at his arm, rending flesh from his body. The clones face couldn’t show any expression, but the screams that tore from their mouth were clearly screams of panic and pain, even if it sounded unnatural and distorted to the Etherian ear. 

Hordak didn’t react. His hand closed around the clone’s jaw from the inside and he pulled the clone down to the ground by the mandible. He gave another one of those horrible, bloodcurdling, feral screeches into the clone’s face. 

By this time, Adora had regained her wits, and was just about finished healing up Entrapta. Her wounds had knit without scarring, and she woke up just in time to see Hordak screech into the clone’s face before he lifted the clone’s head and smashed it into the ground again and again and again. 

There was the sound of something cracking, and the clone gave a haunting and echoing scream of pain. 

Hordak screeched in their face again, lifted his other hand, and started clawing at the clone’s face, gouging their eyes, ripping at flesh. 

He didn’t stop until Entrapta ran up to him, calling out to him. 

====

There was a vague awareness of what he was doing. Very vague. It was almost like a summary of his actions in his head as they happened. He was stopping the enemy. He was protecting Entrapta. He knew to a point what was going on in the same way that someone in the back of a transport knows vaguely where they’re going. His head was spinning with that pressure that made him feel like his head was going to pop off. 

Then Entrapta’s voice called out to him. 

It was like he had been caught in a whirlpool and suddenly stopped in his tracks. He turned, saw her - her face was fine, she was fine. She was still covered in blood, but she didn’t seem like she was injured. That look that she had as she went down to the ground was gone. His mind started to slow, to calm. 

That’s when he felt the pain. He gave a gasp as he realized something was puncturing his hand. He looked down- 

Four fingers were in the clone’s mouth from a ragged tear in their cheek. Hordak could feel the shattered bones shifting in his hand as he loosened his grip and removed his hand. There were two pointed teeth that seemed to have broken off from the clone and embedded themselves into Hordak’s flesh. The skin on his arm was mangled, and he felt a pain like fire across his face. He lifted his hand and felt the clawed up skin of his cheek and ear, wet with blood.

He felt Entrapta’s hair pull him to his feet, but he only managed to get to his knees- His legs were shaking- no, his entire body was shaking, his breathing was heavy and laboured. He was about to ask what happened when the clone gave a whimper of pain. 

They were still alive. 

The world came back to Hordak in pieces. Entrapta at his side, her hand on his good arm. Behind him, someone was crying. Someone else was retching. He heard Shadow Weaver say something, but it took his mind a moment to take the noises he heard and turn them into words he could understand. 

“Don’t kill him, we need to question him.” 

He knew that. Of course he knew that. They needed to know HOW Prime had known they were there, and what he knew. 

“Hordak just ripped off his jaw, I don’t think we can!” Glimmer said, her voice shaking with fear. 

Hordak took a deep breath, and leaned forward as he placed a hand around the Clone’s neck. Their face was a mess of blood and torn flesh, their jaw hung strangely, and one eye can been gouged and torn. 

They still had one good eye, and their hands were fine. He started signing with his injured hand, ignoring the pain that shot through him with every movement.

“How did you know we were there.” He signed. He looked down at the clone’s hands, watching carefully. 

With a shaking right hand, the clone signed back, “You are feral. Broken. Obsolete.” 

Hordak tightened his grip around the clone’s neck. “How did Prime know anyone was in the Fright Zone.” 

“He tagged all the soldiers of the Fright Zone after those ones disappeared.” He signed finally, “Any who refused were executed. You and your allies did not appear on our radars. We could have attacked before, but Prime wanted more information. What were you doing. What was your-“ The clone stopped and started gagging on blood. Hordak turned them to the side and watched them vomit up a mess of blue and grey. 

“All the Fright Zone soldiers have been tagged now.” He said firmly to the others. “Prime is keeping a close eye on everyone since a few slipped away. He doesn’t like being disobeyed.”

“Tagged?” Scorpia said behind him. “Because.. Because of us?”

Hordak figured it best to leave out the execution part for now. “It would have happened eventually anyway.” Hordak said. He looked down at the clone. Without ears, their face mutilated… How had he done that? How had he done that without realizing what he was doing?

What happened to him. 

“What do we do with him now?” Lonnie asked behind Hordak. Right. Him. Just like when Hordak himself had landed on Etheria, most people simply assumed they were male because they looked male. He didn’t much care one way or the other, universal common had more or less gotten rid of gendered pronouns centuries ago, and Chilacian didn’t have them.

“We could take him back to Bright Moon..” Glimmer said slowly. 

“No.” Hordak said. He was very happy that it wasn’t just him who said it, all his old troops, Entrapta, and even Shadow Weaver agreed. 

“He’s too dangerous.” Hordak said. He tightened his grip around the clone’s throat. He didn’t like this. He didn’t want to kill another clone. He knew in the wider view of things it had to be done. He knew that if everything worked out, if he did somehow manage to figure out a virus that could take down the entire army over the entire universe, then a lot more than this clone would die. 

Still. This one would be the first. The first part of a genocide, Hordak realized. It made him sick to his stomach. 

“If he escapes, he’ll tell Prime that I’m alive.” He said, trying to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince Glimmer. “He’ll tell Prime who-“

The clone started signing again. Hordak watched, his eyes slowly growing with horror as the meaning of the words sunk in. 

Then, low at first, then louder, Hordak started to laugh. The sound was almost manic. The mix of horror and exhaustion, what he’d seen today inflicted on the other clones - had DH survived just to have his ears cut off? To have THIS done to them?- No. Hordak’s mind could take a lot, but it didn’t know how to manage all this, so he just laughed. He rose to his feet, still laughing as he lifted the clone up by the neck. 

“Hordak?” Entrapta asked by his side, “What?”

“Prime already knows.” Hordak said after gasping for breath, “Prime already knows. The moment this one saw us, Prime knew.” 

Entrapta’s hair was puffed up, her eyes wide as she watched him, watched the clone struggle in his grip. “How?”

“Neural implants.” He said, then started laughing. “Neural Implants! Prime has access to everything they see. Everything they hear. Their memories, their feelings. No wonder they don’t have ears anymore, they don’t need them as far as Prime is concerned. He can see into every corner of their mind. Their every thought. He can punish them for thoughts he doesn’t like. He can implant memories. He can erase memories..” another burst of manic laughter. 

“They’re not Chilacians anymore.” Hordak said. He squeezed his hand around the clone’s neck as he flailed in his grip. “They’re robots in flesh-suits.” 

The clone’s neck snapped, and his struggling stopped.


	39. Stitches

Hordak still had the clone’s body in his hands when he started to head to the lab-ship. “Get to the ships.” He said. It hurt to walk, it hurt to talk with the wounds to his face, and every twitch of his right ear caused him pain. “We need to go.” 

“Sir- Hordak, wait!” Adora said, still as She-Ra, coming towards him with her sword out. 

For a brief moment, he was worried she’d attack him. 

“Should I… Should I heal you before we go?” She stopped in front of him, looking hesitant, “I mean… you’re badly hurt.” 

“Is that wise!” Shadow Weaver said, an unmistakable hint of panic in her voice. Hordak glanced past the admittably very tall form of She-ra - she was nearly as tall as he was- to Shadow Weaver who was standing next to a dumb-struck but healed Queen Glimmer. “What if he does that again.” 

She’s not wrong, Hordak thought. 

“What if I get infected again.” Adora said. She turned to look at Glimmer, “Glimmer?”

Hordak didn’t know what Adora meant be “infected.” He’d ask Entrapta later. 

Glimmer looked to Shadow Weaver for a long moment, then took a step towards Adora, “Go ahead.” She said. “Heal him.” 

“No.” Hordak said suddenly. The three of them looked at him, shocked. “I appreciate the offer, but it may be best to go with more traditional methods of treatment, given various … upgrades I’ve performed on myself.” He was mostly worried about the ports in his body. Three times his body had tried to reject them when he first put them in, and three times he had to fight infection and a world of pain to try to get them back in. He wasn’t entirely sure that healing him with magic wouldn’t force the ports out of his body. He gestured to the lab-ship, “I have a full medical lab in the ship. I’m sure I'll figure it-“

“He also has a medic.” Mel said taking a step forward to get a closer look at the mangled arm that hung under broken armor, “A medic who has treated every single person in the Horde… before Prime showed up, of course.” 

“Then shouldn’t we get you stitched up before we go, sir?” Scorpia asked. 

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Entrapta cut in, “If Horde Prime does know that we’re here, there’s a chance that there’s soldiers on the way right now. We’re in a dead zone, so there’s a chance that signals might have gotten jammed. Still, they could probably look at our trajectory, and see where we fell off the map.” 

“Exactly. We need to go. Now.” He looked over his old troops, and gestured, wincing as he moved his injured hand, “You. All of you. With me in the Lab-ship.” 

The split up. Hordak, the former Horde soldiers and personnel, and Entrapta going with Hordak to the Lab-ship, everyone else going to the transport with Bow. 

“Uh.. Sir” Scorpia asked once they were inside, “Why did you bring him with us?”

Hordak looked down at the corpse of the clone in his grip. He hit a button, and a panel slid open on the floor revealing an empty, very large fridge like compartment. He set the dead clone down, and hit the button again to close the panel. 

“Because I want to look at those neural implants.” He said.  _ And because it’s a waste to leave him out in the wilderness. Because the worst thing a clone can be is useless. Even after death, there were ways to use a body so that not a scrap was lost. If he had a choice in the matter, he’d want his body to be used - probably not by myself, but used. If he was still able to have his own wants, that was. Leaving him to rot would have almost been disrespectful. It didn’t matter now, dead was dead and he was now the enemy, but he just couldn’t do it.  _

Something in his voice prevented further questioning. 

Hordak went to the captains seat, and was about to sit when Lonnie took a step forward. “With all due respect, sir.” She said quickly, “You’re not in a state to fly. You need to be patched up.” 

He turned, and raised a brow at her. She was right of course. He was losing a lot of blood, but he hoped to at least get the ship in the air. “Do you think you can fly it?” He asked. He glanced at the controls- any labels were in Chilacian;It was an older ship after all. 

Lonnie walked up to the captains seat, and started pointing at various controls, listing off their function with guesses. She got the essentials right. If Hordak had more soldiers like her, he might have beaten the alliance long ago. He looked to Entrapta. 

“Help her if she needs translation.. please.” 

“Of course!” She said as she grabbed him with her hair, pulled him away from the seat, and plopped him sitting on the examination table. “Get all patched up!” 

He ignored the gaze of his old soldiers as Mel approached him. Carefully, she worked to pull away the damaged pieces of armor. The clone’s claws had destroyed the left arm of his armor, ripping through the metals and wires, clawing down to the skin. The armor came off in large chunks at first which were easy to pull off. Mel worked on smaller and smaller pieces as they flew until she got all she could with her bare hands and started taking a closer look at his wounds. “Any idea what that was back there?” Mel asked idly as her eyes took in each wound, “Must have been some rush of adrenaline - some of these wounds almost look like they go to the bone.” She glanced up at him, “And you didn’t even notice it.”

“Just stitch the wounds.” He said. He was starting to feel a little woozy from blood loss. She found the tools she needed with only a little rummaging - suture tools, disinfectant which Hordak confirmed by translating the label, gauze, and a sling. 

“Anything to help with pain?” She asked, looking around for some kind of Anaesthesia. Hordak shook his head. 

“No.” He said letting his eyes flick quickly to the mechanical spider. “No drugs.”

“There’s none here? But with all this stuff, I figured-“

“There’s plenty here.” He said, “But in case we’re attacked again, I’d rather not be drugged up and unable to function.” 

Mel looked like she was going to argue, her mouth opened, and she had a look on her face like she was about to lecture him, but she suddenly paled and fell silent. 

“Alright.” She said quietly. She dug around for a cloth, ran it under the tap in a nearby sink before she passed it to him, “Bite down on this then so you don’t chip a tooth.”

“I assure you that’s unnece-“ He was interrupted as a lavender strand of hair took the cloth from his hands, and shoved it into his mouth. He glared balefully at Entrapta, who was seemingly already absorbed back into the controls of the ship. She was clearly keeping an eye on things with him. He felt his ears flick down as his former troops looked from Entrapta to him, then quickly averted their gaze as they saw him watching. 

At least he could still scare them. And the Princesses Alliance too, apparently. He thought he had lost that ability, but apparently smashing the jaw of a clone with one’s bare fist will fix that. 

She took the anti-septic, and started by pouring it liberally over the wounds. It stung, but it was nothing Hordak hadn’t managed before. Once his arm was more or less rinsed off, she picked out smaller fragments of metal that had gotten stuck into the skin before she started stitching, 

In truth, he could scarcely feel the stitches over the burning pain of the wounds themselves. 

Up in the air, and well on their way as they followed behind the transport ahead of them, Entrapta got up from where she was helping Lonnie and came over to observe Mel. She watched for a moment, then bend down to the floor to pick up the shattered armor. 

“I think I can fix this.” She said, her brows knit in contemplation, “But it’d be easier to fabricate new armor…”

Hordak nodded, but didn’t respond. He still had that cloth in his mouth. She sat down next to him, looking over the damage to his armor, seeming for all the world entirely engrossed in the tech. 

A strand of hair wrapped around his good hand. He glanced down to look at Entrapta, who looked up at him, and gave him a quick smile before looking back the pieces of his armor. A wave of relief washed over him. She wasn’t afraid of him. 

They were relatively safe now. They were heading back to Bright Moon, they were out of the Fright Zone and away from mutilated clones and hacked brains. A moment of quiet, and in the silence his brain just screamed at him.

What had happened back there. 

What the hell had happened back there!? He tried to go over it in his head, to try to piece together everything. The clone revealed himself. Hordak could replay in his head like a video the interaction between them. Then Entrapta fired. The clone attacked. 

Entrapta falling, her blood. That wasn’t just like a video. That was like a series of paintings, moments frozen in time, focused on one tiny detail than another. Her hair going limp. Her eyes glazing over. Blood. Blood on the ground. Blood on the skin. 

After that, it was just feelings. His heart pounding, the odd pressure inside his skull. Blood. Screaming, a whirlwind of movement that he couldn’t recall. Then Entrapta’s voice, anchoring him back to reality, his hand in the clone’s face. 

He couldn’t remember actually attacking. He couldn’t remember making the decision to attack, and that worried him. 

The needle that Mel was using hit something painful, causing him to wince. His head was too dizzy to think now, he was getting so tired from the exhaustion, from the blood loss. Mel was cleaning up the blood as it oozed out of his wounds, trying to keep her stitches neat and even. 

He felt one of Entrapta’s hands move from the thing she was examining to rest over his own hand that was set on the examination table. He leaned back against the wall behind him. 

=========

A sharp pain woke him. A pain that started from his injured ear and drove down his spine. He sat up quickly with a sudden pained gasp, startling Mel who was closer to his face than he had realized. Entrapta’s hair was around him, keeping him from moving forward too much and falling off the table. 

Mel cursed as she picked up the needle she had dropped in his sudden movement, put it in a container with other soiled gauze, and selected another needle from the kit. 

“You ok?” Entrapta asked leaning in. 

“Yes.” He hissed, his teeth clenched in pain. He looked around for the cloth that he had been biting on. Entrapta had it in her hands. He glanced down at his arm, now a mess of bloody bandages. 

“Sorry.” Mel muttered as she moved back to his face, “Keep as still as you can, I’m almost done.” 

“She’s stitching up your ear.” Entrapta explained. Hordak winced, and as Entrapta put the cloth into his good hand, he quickly popped it back into his mouth. 

“Ears are worse?” Mel asked, looking up at him. He managed to nod as he pressed his eyes shut in anticipation of the pain. He felt the pain in his ear earlier of course, like fire on his skin, but now with Mel working at it, it felt like a part of it had been sliced open. 

Entrapta slid a thick strand of hair under his good hand, and placed her own hand over his. Another strand of hair wrapped around his waist. Between that, the cloth in his mouth, and very deep, heavy breathing, he managed to get through the last of the procedure without giving out more than a few stifled, pained whimpers. 

When Mel put the last bandage on, he finally opened his eyes. Entrapta was looking at him, worry painted over her face as she leaned in to watch him. He gave a weak smile. “I’m fine.” He said. “Worst is over.” 

She smiled, but she was still clearly worried. Another strand wrapped around his shoulders as she shifted closer to him, holding onto his good arm. He gave her a proper smile then. A part of him had been so worried that she’d be afraid of him after what she saw him do. He didn’t even know what it actually looked like, how had it had been, but he could guess. No, She wasn’t scared of him. But she should have been. 

What if that happened again. What if she was in front of him when it did. 

_ Unlikely.  _ He told himself,  _ Really, what do you think triggered that? Obviously, her being attacked. You’ll probably find out what that was if you look it up on that disc.  _

Still. He was worried. He didn’t like the idea that he hadn’t been in control. 

Entrapta Reached up, and kissed his uninjured cheek, almost as though she could sense his worried thoughts. There was a sudden, stifled and low, “D’aww” From Scorpia, reminding him that his old troops and personnel, (including his old head of security, who had seen much worse to be fair.) were there and likely watching. He felt his ears flick down, then pin back up as he winced and gave a sudden gasp of pain from the movement of his injured ear. 

Hopefully that would heal soon. 

“I wish you had told me the ears would be worse.” Mel said as she put the last of the tools in the container of soiled gauze. 

“Could you have done anything about it?”

“No, but I would have given you proper warning. You slept through the rest of the stitches almost without making a sound. I thought the ears would be the easiest part.”

Right. Etherian ears were so different from his own. Some Etherians even had multiple piercings through their ears. The pain that that would cause himself was unimaginable. Or had been. Now, he figured it would feel like the stitches he just got. 

Ears. That came back to him. He hadn’t forgotten, of course, but with everything else, the earless clones had settled to the bottom of his mind. Now it was stirred up again.The ears. The implants. 

What had Horde Prime done. And more importantly. 

Why. 

  
  



	40. Inventory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it has come to my attention that a lot of people don’t realize I post on Tumblr too. 
> 
> https://thewitchoftherock.tumblr.com/
> 
> I’m always up for answering questions and what-ifs! Unless it’d be a spoiler. Then shhhhhhh

They were thankfully not attacked on the way back to Bright Moon

They arrived, and with a little help from Hordak, Lonnie was able to land the Lab Ship in the wide gardens of Bright Moon. 

“Is this the training grounds?” Lonnie asked as she looked over the vast greenery. Hordak grunted as they landed. 

“No.” He muttered, “It’s just decorative.” 

It was Kyle who seemed surprised by that, “All this just… grass?” He asked, “and it’s not used for anything but looking pretty?”

Hordak sat in the chair before the computer with a heavy sigh, “Welcome to Bright Moon.” He said. 

Hordak instructed Lonnie on turning off the motor - simple, if one could read Chilacian- and then nodded when the ship was quiet. 

They were all silent. 

“Wow…” Kyle said softly, “So… we’re here. In Bright Moon. Middle of all the princesses’s. All this space… Pretty far away from the Fright Zone.” He frowned, a sad expression overcoming his face. Rogelio put a hand on his shoulder, but didn’t say anything.

“It’s fine.” Lonnie said finally. “We’ll go back when Prime is … dealt with.” She turned to look to Hordak, “Right sir?”

Hordak gave a quick nod, but didn’t say anything. When Prime was dealt with. Sure. When Prime was dealt with he’d rebuild the Fright Zone, marry Entrapta, and they’d rule over Dryl and the Fright Zone. Probably they’d combine it into one kingdom. 

Dealt with. When Prime was dead. And for Prime to be truly dead, all the clones, every living Chilacian had to be killed. But they weren’t chilacians anymore, he told himself, no. They were firmly under Prime’s control inside and out. 

“Well, I guess we go out and face the guards….” Lonnie said in response to Hordak’s silence. “To the Prisons, I bet…” 

“Wait until I tell you what I heard about the Prisons of Bright Moon.” Kyle said as they went towards the door. The sliding door opened with a faint woosh, and left the ship, followed by the rest of his personnel, Scorpia, and. -

Mel stopped, “Are you coming as well?” She asked. 

Hordak hadn’t made an effort to move from where he was. Entrapta had his damaged pieces of armor out on the examination table, picking at it and trying to salvage what she could. 

“Not yet.” Hordak said quietly, “We’re going to… take stock of what we have here.” 

Mel frowned, and took a step forward. She looked for a moment like she was about to lecture him, but she stopped before she even opened her mouth. “... If I may.” She said carefully, “I don’t know how much you should be up and about with your injuries.” 

“We won’t be too long.” Hordak said, “While I appreciate your diligence- “ She was being diligent, he couldn’t fault her for that, “ I assure you, we’re just looking over a few things. Taking stock, and -“

“Don’t worry! I’ll make sure he takes it easy.” Entrapta said as she turned to smile at her, “I’ll take care of him.” 

Mel gave Entrapta a quick smile, then offered a quick bow to Hordak before leaving the ship, leaving him and Entrapta alone. 

The silence between them spread out over long moments. Entrapta had stopped tinkering with the damaged armor, but was staring down at it.

Finally, she turned to him, and said very quietly, “Hordak…?”

“Yes?” He was expecting her to ask what had happened with the other clone. To ask about the ears. Entrapta had at least some idea as to how important the ears were. 

“... Are you ok?”

“I’m fine.” He said quickly, almost on instinct, but there was a shake to his voice. His breathing had picked up, and his mind was flashing back and presenting him pictures of clones without ears. His mind was still shaken from the vivid memory of his crash landing in Etheria. Clones with neural implants. His hand through another clone’s cheek. The swirling mess his mind had been in. Lack of control. 

Entrapta was at his side, hair twining around his shoulders. Before she could ask again, he said, “No. I’m.. actually not.” He leaned into her, and closed his eyes trying to calm his breathing. He needed to calm himself down as soon as he could while Entrapta was still with him. 

“They’re going to seperate us.” He said dumbly. 

“Who?” Entrapta asked. She reached up and started playing with his hair. Though his mind was still swirling he felt his body start to relax, at least until his ear twitched and sent a jolt of pain through him. 

“You need something for the pain.” She said. She turned, looking around for something, opening cupboards with her hair. but of course she didn’t know what she was looking for. Hordak looked up, his eyes scanning the bottles in the cupboard. 

“The green bottle.” He said simply. “And that spider thing.” 

Entrapta brought the mechanical spider and the bottle to Hordak. He inspected the tiny bot to make sure it was still functional- it seemed to be - filled it from the bottle, and set it to low before he put it on his good arm. A needle slid into his skin, the bot calculated, then injected some of the drug into him. 

“Who’s going to seperate us.” Entrapta prompted again. She wrapped her hair around him, waiting for him to respond.

“The Princesses. Of course.” He said quickly. He could feel the drug starting to work. Slowly, the pain felt more like cold under his skin. He could still feel it, but at least it didn’t hurt so much - especially his ear. Of course the princesses would separate them. He would, if he were in their position. A captured enemy showing signs of uncontrollable violence? He’d have himself quarantined for study and carefully bound.

Though, Bright Moon had no prisons. So they’d separate them. Probably put up another, stronger magical barrier around him. 

“I won’t let them.” Entrapta said simply. 

Hordak was about to say that she may not have a choice, but there was a knock on the door to the ship. They looked at one another for a moment before Entrapta untangled herself from him, and went to open the door. 

Hordak turned around and put his head in his hands. His breathing was increasing again, his ears were twitching - he was very glad the pain medication took effect so quickly - and the thought that in a moment he was going to be seperated from Entrapta again, after the whole day of being separated in the Fright Zone, after everything he’d learned and seen today...

It was too much. He just felt done. 

The door opened, and he heard Entrapta say, “Oh. Glimmer. Hello.” There was ice to her voice - she was still mad from earlier, clearly. Probably she was ready to fight as soon as Glimmer - probably accompanied by a few guards- told her that they needed to take Hordak somewhere safe so they could -

“Did you two forget something?” She asked. Hordak heard a familiar, disgruntled, very angry screech. 

Imp. 

Hordak turned around quickly, and saw Glimmer standing in the doorway, holding Imp in her arms. He screeched angrily, but once he saw Hordak, he stopped. He was silent for a moment, then jumped from Glimmer’s arms and landed on Hordak’s lap, his face worried as he looked at Hordak’s heavily bandaged arm, and the bandages that covered half of one side of his face. 

He looked up, and caught Glimmer’s eye, then looked away. 

“We brought him with us to the Dead Zone.” Glimmer said softly, “And he was waiting in the ship when… well, when the other clone arrived. We didn’t realize he wasn’t back with you until we were in the air.” 

Entrapta was over at Hordak’s side, petting Imp on the head, “Aww..”She said softly, “Poor little Imp. We’re so sorry Imp, you must have been scared.” 

Imp normally would have been more than content to sit and enjoy the attention from Entrapta, but today, he was focused on Hordak. 

“Angry, more than anything.” Glimmer said. “He kept screeching to get out.” 

Hordak put his good hand on Imp’s head. Imp saw the spider-bot and hissed at it. He had never seen anything like that before. “It’s fine.” Hordak whispered very softly. 

“... Are you two coming out?” Glimmer asked finally. “Everyone else is getting settled in-“

“We’re looking over the ship.” Entrapta said quickly, “Taking stock. Inventory. Seeing what we have to work with. “ 

Glimmer nodded, and turned to leave. “Alright…” She said slowly, “If.. If you need anything.” 

Hordak was still waiting. Waiting for her to say that she needed Hordak to go with her. 

“We’re fine. Oh! Unless you could have some tiny snacks sent to us? I’m really hungry!” 

There was a pause, then a brief laugh, “yeah. Snacks. No problem.” She said. She backed up to leave, then stopped. “...Hey.. Entrapta?” She said carefully, as thought setting a toe on breaking ice. Of course. She wouldn’t just demand that Hordak go with her, she’d separate them first, then isolate him. He turned his back to them both as his breathing slowly started to pick up. He felt Imps little claws on his skin, holding onto him. 

“... I’m sorry.” Glimmer finally said. “I… well. I haven’t made all this easy.” She said. She looked from Entrapta to Hordak’s back, “I mean. All this. You. Hordak. Prime…” 

“You haven’t.” Entrapta agreed. 

“And… I’m sorry.” She said. “I just…. I 'm just worried about you. You know?”

Hordak turned slightly, just enough to watch them out of the corner of his eye. 

“Well. I don’t think you need to be very worried.” Entrapta said, but there was a smile on her face, and a lightness to her voice. “I mean, I don’t think anyone would try to hurt me with Hordak around.” 

Hordak felt his fist tighten.

“Yeah.” Glimmer said slowly. “Yeah.. that was…” She took a step back, and shook her head, “Well. That. I guess it saved us all?” She said carefully. She turned to leave, “I’ll have snacks sent to you. Just… if you need anything else- “

“Just some time to go through the ship.” Entrapta said. “We won’t be long.” 

“Alright. Let us know when you’re done? I think we should go over what we have. What we learned, and -“

“Can we do that tomorrow?” Entrapta asked quickly, glancing at Hordak, then back to Glimmer. “We won't be long here, but if we wait until tomorrow we might be able to look through some of what Hordak got on the computer, and -“

“Tomorrow is fine.” Glimmer said quickly. “That might be best, actually. We’re all a little shaken, He’s injured..” She shook her head, “Yeah, we’ll do this tomorrow.” She turned around, and left through the open door which slid closed behind her. 

The door was scarcely closed when Entrapta again wrapped her hair around Hordak. “Poor Imp.” She said. “I can’t believe we forgot him.” 

Guilt flooded his stomach. Imp. HIS Imp! His first companion on Etheria. His little spy.

How could he have failed to check for him. 

“I’m sorry.” Hordak said again. 

“I should be sorry.” Entrapta said as she wrapped her hair around Imp. Imp didn’t seem to notice. He was still focused on Hordak. “You were… distracted.” When Hordak didn’t respond, she started playing with his hair again and said, “I guess they’re not going to seperate us then?” 

“For now.” Hordak said. 

Imp opened his mouth. “We should have him contained!” It was Shadow Weavers voice. Hordak was not used to hearing the panic in her voice. “He’s not safe, You saw what he didn’t to that clone.” 

“He clearly wasn’t himself!” Adora’s voice snapped back. “Did you see his eyes? His teeth? That scream…” There was a shudder in her voice. 

“And that’s why he needs to be contained!” Shadow Weaver said again, “What if he does that to one of us.” 

“I don’t think he will.” Bow said. 

“I mean.. Obviously he won’t.” It was Mermista’s voice. “Or did you actually miss what happened?”

“I saw Hordak rip apart a clone with no self-control, no-“

“I saw Hordak go berserk when Entrapta got hurt.” Bow interrupted, “And I saw him calm right down when she said his name. “There was a long moment of silence, then, “So long as you’re not intending to hurt Entrapta, I don’t think you need to worry about that.” 

“There’s too many variables!” Shadow Weaver said, “What if that happens, if Entrapta gets hurt accidentally, and she can’t calm him down? What if-“ 

“Glimmer..” Adora said, “It’s your call, in the end. But Hordak went nuts, stopped-

“Killed.” Shadow Weaver corrected. “Brutalized.”

“-That clone, then calmed down when Entrapta just said his name… He never even took a swipe at one of us. When I got infected… I actually attacked you and Bow.” 

There was a long moment of silence. Hordak would have thought that was all Imp had if he hadn’t kept his mouth open. 

“He doesn’t need to be contained.” Glimmer said. “For now. Worst case… Worst case, If that were to happen… I’m sure we could handle him until Entrapta could calm him down. “

“Besides.” Bow said, “I don’t think it happens with just any injury. When we got them off Beast Island, Entrapta was really badly hurt, and he wasn’t… like that. I think there are variables, There’s stuff we don’t know… But I think it’s fine.” 

Imp closed his mouth, and looked up at Hordak expectantly. He set his hand on Imp head, and gently scratched behind his ears. 

“So.. I don’t think they’re going to seperate us.” Entrapta said again. 

Eventually, Hordak decided that he owed some thanks to Adora and Bow. And Mermista, if only for the fact that she picked up on what happened, even when he himself wasn’t so sure. 

He figured he could be forgiven for being a bit confused about it all, all things considered. 

“.... Do you want to talk?” Entrapta said softly, but her eyes were starting to dart around the lab ship, taking in what she could. That was fine for Hordak. He didn’t want to talk. He didn’t want to deal with any of this right now. His breathing was calm, but he felt strangely disconnected, like he was watching and directing his actions from inside, rather than just doing them. 

Very odd. But it had been a long day. Perhaps that was a side effect from whatever had happened to him when he attacked 

-brutalized- 

The clone. 

“No.” He said, “No… No I don't. I really don’t.” He looked around the Lab ship, “All I want ... is to go over all this with you.” He forced a smile, but at the sight of Entrapta’s bight eyes and her puffed out hair, he didn’t have to force it anymore. 

He just wanted a distraction for now. He wanted to take his head away from everything if only for a little while. 

=====================

They had looked through the ship for hours, with Hordak explaining in detail Any piece of equipment that Entrapta didn’t recognize. He showed her the synthesizers ( this will make fixing your armor really easy!) and the printer (I have big plans for this. BIG plans.) and in her digging around for every last little thing, she found a box under the pilot’s seat. Inside was a collection of small round balls covered in a thin film of plastic. 

“What’s this?” She asked, passing it to Hordak.

He took one look at it, and his mouth began to water. 

Food. Real food. Food intended for Clones. Food intended to give them every nutrient they needed. The perfect texture, the perfect flavour. The perfect food. He picked one up, and nearly had it unwrapped when he stopped, and put it back down. He counted how many were in the box. 

“Rations.” He said simply. “Rations for clones.” He gave a brief smile to Entrapta, “I’ll … probably start having these bit by bit. They’ll run out eventually, but -“

“But we could.. study them?” She asked. “I mean, maybe we could make them ourselves? Is it better than what you eat here?”

“It’s designed to be the perfect food.” He said. “If we could figure out how to make them… I was never involved in that. None of the clones were. Horde Prime had it mostly auto-synthesized, so I don’t even really know what’s in it.” 

Entrapta smiled, and peeked into the box. She took a handful. “For study.” She said. “I’m sure I can figure out what’s in them with these.”

Hordak put the box with the remainder of the rations in it on the counter, and closed it up. He wasn’t hungry - he had eaten already today, and he didn’t want to waste them by eating them when he wasn’t hungry. 

Waste. Ears. Implants. 

He shook his head. He’d have to revisit this, yes, and he knew he’d have to talk to Entrapta eventually - she’d not let him just ignore all this, but for now He was just happy that it was all settling down. He was happy that he was Back in Bright Moon. That Entrapta was safe. That he had tech, soldiers, and. personnel that he could trust now. 

Maybe he could do it. Maybe he could actually take down Horde Prime. 

Kill Horde Prime. And, of course, every clone. Every clone that had their mind invaded by implants and their memories altered. Robots supported by flesh suits. 

Clones. Chilacians. Just like him. 

He forced his thoughts away from that, and turned to Entrapta who was currently looking at a type of soldering ray that she’d never seen before, her hair puffed up, her voice getting faster and faster as she figured out what it was, and what it could do until she dissolved into laughter from the joy and excitement of it all. 

He felt himself smile. 


	41. Brains

“Hordak! Hordak! Wake up!” 

He was shaken awake suddenly, waking to the dim green lights in their room in Bright Moon. His throat hurt, he could feel his ears twitching. His face was wet.    
  
Tears? He reached up quickly and wiped his face with the back of his hand. He half wished he could remember his dreams, just so he could know what had affected him so badly. Then again, if it affected him this badly, perhaps it was best that he didn’t remember. 

Entrapta was at his side, her hair still wrapped around him as she watched him carefully. 

“What happened!”   
  
“Nothing.” Hordak muttered as he sat up. At the very least, he couldn’t remember what it was. Another bad dream- the second one since he came to Bright Moon. He used to have them from time to time, but now they were getting more frequent. 

Imp was one his stomach, looking at him with his eyes wide. His little spy had been particularly cold to Hordak once they left the lab ship and he knew that Hordak was relatively fine. He had hissed and screeched at him in the room, and then later, when he was calmer, just decided to ignore the drugged up Hordak. He had not enjoyed travelling the whole way to Bright Moon with the princesses.   
  
Hordak glanced down at the bot still on his arm. A red light was flashing on the top of it - empty. He wondered if his unremembered dreams had started when the drugs started to wear off. He picked the device up, turned it off, and set it down on the table next to the bed. 

Entrapta shifted herself, moved Hordak with her hair, and rested his head against her chest, gently stroking his hair. As her fingers worked, he felt his muscles loosen up, and his breathing slow “It wasn’t nothing.” She insisted, “That’s.. Hordak, that’s the worst I’ve seen you. “ 

Hordak leaned into her, “It’s nothing I remember.” He admitted. “I never remember anything.” The worst she’d seen him. She hadn’t seen him in the middle of a nightmare very often. Before he started sleeping with Entrapta, he didn’t know how often he had dreams. He never really woke up in the middle of them. A few times he woke up and he knew he had had a rough sleep, but he just wasn’t sure. 

Entrapta wrapped an arm around his shoulders, and kept stroking his hair, “That might be best.” She said quietly, “When I have nightmares, sometimes they bother me for days.”   
  
He remembered waking her from her nightmares. Remembered that first time when she tried to strangle him with her hair because she was still half-asleep and scared. He remembered how many times- sometimes twice or three times a week- he’d wake her up because she was sobbing, and he’d hold her while she calmed down until she fell back asleep.    
  
He let her hold him. His mind was still fuzzy from sleep and drugs, and he didn’t know what he had been dreaming about, but something else crept into his head.    
  
Earless clones. Neural Implants.    
  
“Entrapta..” He said softly as a chill went through his body.    
  
“Yes?”   
  
“.... can you.. Play with my ears?” He felt his ears flick down and burn blue at this request, but he didn’t say anything else. He wanted her to touch his ears, almost so he knew they were still there. Because losing them never seemed like something that could happen. Thankfully, he could express himself without them, but still…

  
Entrapta liked his ears. He liked having them, even though he found their uncontrollable movements embarrassing sometimes.    
  
Entrapta leaned forward, and gently started to kiss his good ear. He figured he had slept for a while, because his injured ear didn’t hurt quite as much when it twitched, and the burning pain in his arm had faded to a painful throb with every heartbeat. 

“Of course.” She whispered softly. “Anything you like.”    
  
He relaxed into her. He wouldn’t sleep again this night but Entrapta would help him calm down at least.    
  
“The ears are bothering you.” She said softly. Hordak nodded. At the very least he didn’t have to explain all that again. Entrapta knew - to a point- how important the ears were to the clones - to the Chilacians. If humans had evolved to learn to read expressions on faces, and to express themselves primarily that way, Chilacians had done the same thing with their ears.    
  
Nobody understood how disturbing it was to him to see one of his kind without ears.    
  


“Do you want to talk about-”   
  
“No.” He said quickly. That was honestly the last thing he wanted. He didn’t like talking about these things anyway, but he really didn’t want to talk about the ears. “No.” He said, forcing some calm into his voice, “I’d rather.. Try not to think about that.” 

“Alright.” She whispered. Her hair kept running through his hair. He leaned into her, and let her continue until she fell asleep, her hair wrapping around him, his hair twisted around her hair. 

Then he got up.    
  
He detangled himself carefully, then very gently lifted Imp off his stomach, and set him down on the bed. He pulled off the nightgown- wincing as he moved his arm- and put on his Bright Moon robes. Morgana apparently had made more things for them, but they’d be sent up tomorrow.    
  
Good. This stuff smelled like the Fright Zone. He never noticed a smell to it before, and it wasn’t necessarily a bad smell, but it brought him right back to watching the servant clones, kneeling, earless, expressionless.    
  
Imp screeched at him, bringing Hordak back to where he was. Apparently, he had gone off in a daze. No doubt, it was simply a result of the drugs he had.    
  
“I’m heading to the lab,” he whispered to Imp, careful to not wake up Entrapta. Imp looked at him, his little arms crossed, a glare on his face. He pointed angrily to Entrapta. “She needs more sleep.” Hordak said quickly. “There’s no need for her to waste her time-” 

Imp seemed to disagree with Hordak’s opinion. He jumped onto Entrapta’s stomach and screeched loudly, bringing her to sudden wakefulness. She looked around frantically, the blankets clutched to her chest until she saw Hordak, dressed and standing in the middle of the room.    
  
“.. Something wrong?” She asked after looking at him for a moment, letting the sleep fade from her eyes.    
  
“Nothing.” He said quickly, glaring at Imp. “I’m just awake now. Go back to sleep.”   
  


“Where are you going?” 

Imp opened his mouth,. “I’m heading to the lab.” fell from his little creature’s mouth. 

“Oh don’t think you’re going back there without me!” She said as she scrambled out of bed. 

“You need more sleep-”

“I'm not getting back to sleep now if I know you’re looking through the lab without me!” She threw off her night things and scrambled around naked, looking for her normal clothes, “What are we going to do in the lab anyway?”   
  


Hordak watched her in silence for several moments before he answered, “I was planning to.. Examine the corpse.” He finally said.

Entrapta pulled on her top, “The clone?” She asked softly. He nodded. “I want to see too.” She frowned, “Neural Implants… that sounds interesting, and if they can transmit recordings, audio and visual to Horde Prime, we should find a way to disrupt that in the future.”    
  
“I’d rather go over this myself.” He said finally.    
  
Silence filled the room. He turned away from Entrapta, looking at the computers nearby instead.    
  
“Why.” She asked.   
  
He didn’t know. He didn’t know why. He didn’t want to be away from Entrapta, but he didn’t want to go over the corpse of the clone with her there, and he didn’t know why.

“Hordak.” 

He shook his head

“...Well.. I’m going with you anyway.” She said firmly. He turned to her, and while he could see her hair was all puffed up, her face turned away from him, she was still scrambling around, looking for her clothes. “You’re still recovering, and if anything happens, its best you're not alone. You can do that examination yourself if you want, but I’m going to be there with you.” 

“... Alright.” He said, softly.    
  
“And If I think you’re too tired, or if I think you need to rest-” she found her shoes and pulled them on. Fully dressed, she turned to Horak, her face an angry mask, “I’ll drag you out and carry you all the way back here if you try to act like you’re fine.”    
  
He picked up the shake to her voice, and cursed on himself. “Entrapta-”

  
“Let’s go.” she said, heading towards the door.    
  


“It’s not that I want to keep anything from you!”

She stopped, but didn’t turn back to him, “Then why do you want to go alone.” She hissed, “why don’t you want me there.”    
  
“I.. I don’t know.” He said, “I want you there. But I want to do this on my own… I don’t..” He frowned. Why did he want to do this on his own. Why? What was he afraid of?

There it was. He answered his own question.    
  
“I don’t know what I’m going to find.” He said. “I’m … concerned. “ He shook his head, “No.. I’m afraid of what I’m going to find.”

She still didn’t turn around. She stood there for a while, quiet until after a long time she said, “And if I was afraid of something… would you let me face it alone?”

“No!” He said quickly without even thinking what he was setting himself up for. No, he’d never let her face something horrible, something that frightened her on her own-”   
  


“And If I protested?” She said, “If I said no? If I said I wanted to face it alone?” 

Hordak didn’t respond. Of course he’d insist on being there for her… just like she was now. 

“Hordak?” Entrapta turned to look at him now. There were tears forming in her narrowed eyes. Hordak took a step forward, wanting to say something but unsure what he could say. 

Her hair wrapped around his wrist, and pulled him towards her.

“I won’t let you face something scary alone.” She said, “Just like you wouldn’t with me.” 

“I… I’m sorry.” He said, his ears flicked down. He didn’t know what to say to her. He didn’t know what to say about the corpse, examining the body, the ears, the neural implants…   
  
“You can … do the examination yourself, if you want.” She said slowly. “I want to watch, but I won’t touch it if you don’t want me to.” 

Hordak nodded, and slowly put an arm around her. “I’m sorry.” He said again. “I just-”

She shushed him with her hair. “I know.” She said. “But.. later.. If you’re sorry, I want you to talk to me. About the clone. About… all this.” 

He nodded.    
  
======================================

“Lab Log 1” Entrapta said into her recorder. Being back in the lab had lightened her mood significantly for which he was grateful for. Hordak had expected her to show some revulsion, some fear as he took the clone’s body out of refrigeration and set it on the newly sanitized examination table, but she hadn’t seemed at all concerned about the body or it’s mutilated face. 

Hordak felt a chill go through his spine as he looked at the damage he had done to the face. He had killed before. He’s been a general, his whole past was filled with corpses. But this was different. He had never mutilated someone like this. Any kill he had performed had been quick. Precise. The work done to the clone’s face was work fueled by rage. 

And he didn’t even remember it. 

Entrapta placed her hand on his. He turned, and looked at her quickly as though he had been pulled out of a daze. She gave him a reassuring smile as she lifted the recorder again. “This… is going to be examination notes.” She said into the microphone. “My beloved Hordak -”   
  


“-Entrapta, that’s hardly necessary-”

“Will be performing the examination. I’ll be assisting. And watching.” She set the recorder on a tray near the examination table, and pressed a button. “Go ahead.” She said.    
  
Hordak took a deep breath, put on a pair of gloves, and took up the surgical tools he had found.    
  
“Alright…” He said slowly, “Let’s begin.” 

=======

Lab Log 1

Hordak: Starting with the face. Most damage is done there, and that’s where I’ll find the most important information. As well, I need to clean this up a little before I attempt to remove the neural implants.    
  


A quick recap of injuries. Right eye has been gouged. Four deep claw marks running from the forehead to the.. More impressive injuries closer to the right side of the jaw. Two of these claw marks seem to have snagged the eye.    
  
The cheek on the right side has been punctured. Jaw bone appears to be in at least 5 pieces. Several teeth are missing. Some might be lost in the flesh. At least two are gone altogether. The two that are entirely gone were removed from my hand after the injuries occurred.   
  


The rest of the face has been mutilated by more deep claw marks, though damage there seems mostly superficial compared to the other wounds. 

Upon examination of what remains of the nasal cavity, it seems that there was some nasal cartilage left. I am unable to hazard how intact the nose was, but that there was any cartilage left, that implies that this particular clone hadn’t been out of the virtine for more than three cycles. Entrapta, that’s just less than an Etherian year- 

Entrapta: I didn’t know clones had noses at all. When did you lose yours?

Hordak: Most clones start to lose their cartilage after a cycle. It’s normally fully gone after two cycles. According to the information we got from Light Hope, children seem to lose it slower… it’s much like baby teeth in humans, I think. Except it doesn’t grow back. 

Entrapta: Fascinating.

Hordak: Moving onto the ears…. Functionally, they appear fine as far as hearing is concerned… If this clone had in fact been out of the virtine for less than three cycles, the scars are old enough, faded enough that they must have been done while the clone was still in development. Hearing was probably still fine, but Echolocation and enhanced hearing would have been compromised. 

… On a more social sciences point of view, this explains why the clones appear not to use the Horde language - Chilacian, as I now know it to be. The range of meaning of the language without use of ears is.. Laughably simplistic.

After a quick examination, the rest of the body appears relatively intact, save for some mild superficial wounds. These could be a result of combat, or holding onto the Lab Ship while we left the Fright Zone. Unknown.    
  
As for the neural implants… Scarring on the back of the head seems to indicate that they were inserted there. As with the ears, the scarring is faded. Not quite as much. This was probably added just before, or just after the clone was taken from the vitrine.

I’m cutting through the scar tissue. 

Entrapta: Hordak, I think I see-

Hordak: Wires. A collection of wires that appear to insert under the back of the skull… Attached to a box that was placed just at the edge of the back of the skull… Though, there appears to be wires running all through the head….   
  
Entrapta:... Hordak, you’ve been quiet for a -

Hordak: Pass me the bone saw. 

-sounds of whirring. A saw cutting through bone.- 

Hordak: …. Upon further inspection, this appears to have been a more major procedure. Damage has been inflicted to the frontal lobe, and various parts of the brain that’s supposed to store memory. That would explain why this one said that Prime could change their memories. They can’t hold memories on their own anymore 

Entrapta: Hordak… are you ok?

Hordak: Presumably, the memories would have been held in the box that I already removed, or, alternatively, uploaded to some server. One could imagine then, if the memories are saved outside the clones actual physical body, Horde Prime could alter or erase them at a moment’s notice… More work will have to be done later on the actual device. I doubt that’s the actual way it’s set up. 

… This brain is a mess. There’s scarring all over. I’d like to say that it was the result of the way that the neural implant was implanted, but… Some of these scars are too well placed, too precise. This was done on purpose. Neurology isn’t my specialty. I’m sure with some research I could figure out why these scars are in their specific places… but the Amygdala.. That’s mutilated. Prefrontal cortex is a mess...Hypothalamus is… 

Entrapta: Hordak. Stop. 

========

Entrapta turned off the recorder. Hordak had dropped his scalpel and was hunched over the brain, his head in his hands, his breathing picking up.

“Why would he do all this.” Hordak said, his voice shaking. He could feel tears pricking at his eyes but no, he would not cry over this. He would not cry over the clone that hurt Entrapta, 

Entrapta came up behind him, and wrapped her arms around him. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. 

“Do you know what he did.” He managed to hiss, looking at the altered brain on the table before him.    
  
“I think so.” Entrapta said, “But.. it’s not my area of expertise either. And your brains-” 

“I guess he didn’t think the conditioning was enough.” Hordak said. “Everything here- everything that’s been … altered. It had something to do with feeling. Emotion. Good and bad.” 

“.. but this one… He was scared when you-”

“I know.” Hordak snapped. “I know. I know. I don’t know enough about this right now to be able to tell if that’s intentional or not.” his speech was speeding up. “I don’t know how precise this was, or if it was a butchery. I don’t know what they were able to do or-”

He felt Entrapta’s hands start to run through his hair, slowly. She turned him around, took his gloves off his hands, and held him to her, resting his head against her chest, her hair wrapping around him.    
  
“We’ll figure it out.” She whispered. “We’ll figure this out.”    
  


He wondered when this started. Had it been slowly worked into the system, younger clones getting these adjustments while the older clones died and were replaced, or had the older clones been altered as well. 

He wondered if DH had been altered like this. 

Ears. Neural Implants. Brains.

He didn’t even remember mutilating the clone’s face.

“He’s trying to. To take it all away.” He said, his voice shaking. “Anything good they might have felt. Their ability to communicate with one another. Their memories… “ He shook his head, “He is actually trying to turn them into robots..” 

“And we’ll stop him.” Entrapta promised. She leaned against him, her chin on his head as her arms and hair wrapped around him. 

Ears. Neural Implants. Brains. The newly awakened memories that flying the Lab Ship had awakened. Mutilation.    
  


It was too much. 

He was done. 

Quietly, he let the tears start flowing from his eyes, feeling weak. Feeling like a failure. Feeling scared. But a small part of him was just glad he could still feel. Glad he could feel this horrible, heavy feeling, but glad that he could also feel the comfort from Entrapta’s arms around him, her hands gently playing with the strands of hair at the back of his head. 


	42. Shame

They had to dispose of the body before they went back to their room at Bright Moon because if they didn’t then it would start to decay much faster now that it had been examined. Hordak wanted to get it done quickly since Entrapta was tired, and while Hordak himself wasn’t tired, he felt like his mind had just been flushed out. He was dizzy, confused, and his head was throbbing. 

So much work to do though. So much that he had to get done. Entrapta was still holding him, even though he had calmed down, even though his breathing had gone back to normal. 

He still felt tired. He felt too tired to feel, and he felt utterly ashamed at disrupting an examination with an… emotional outburst!

“You should go back..” He said as he sat upright, looking away from her. 

A tendril of hair went over his shoulders, and pushed him to look back at her. She looked carefully at him for a moment, then took a cloth from the nearby sink and wiped away the remains of his tears. He hadn’t even noticed them. 

“Nope.” She said as she yawned, “I’m not going anywhere without you.”

Hordak frowned, his ears flicking down. He tried not to look at the clone on the examination table. 

“You might as well sit in the pilot's chair…” He suggested as she put the cloth back into the sink. “I just have a few things to do. Then we can go back. I promise.” 

Entrapta gave him a hard look, “I can help-“ 

“It’s nothing hard, I-“

“Hey.” Entrapta lifted herself up on her hair, and lifted herself to face level. She took his face in his hands, and forced him to look at her. He looked briefly at her face, then flicked his eyes away. “You’re… angry?”

“No!” He insisted, looked back at her. “Just… Just I feel-” How often had he started a sentence with “I feel.” He wasn’t sure how he felt.” 

“I said I want to talk about this.” She said. “I didn’t let that go.” 

“After I take care of the rest of this.” 

“Why aren’t you looking at me then. Tell me that now at least.” She frowned, her eyes brimming with tears. “If I’ve done something..”   
  
Damnit. He didn’t want to make her feel bad. He didn’t want to put any of this on her. He believed she had actually betrayed him in the Fright Zone. He thought for sure she’d get sick of him. He thought she felt burdened by him, and the chemical bond. He scared her in the Frozen Wastes, he let her get hurt in the Dead Zone, and now… 

He just kept failing her. 

He said finally. “I shouldn’t have-“ He frowned, “I.. Apologize for my… lack of control.” He finally said, “I’m just ashamed by that, I-”

Her hair poofed over to him and covered his mouth. “If I was upset. If I started crying into you-“ His ears flicked down, and he felt them heat up with shame, “Would you think that’s something I should be ashamed of?”

“That’s different.” He said.

“How.”

“You’re Etherian. I’m a clone. We’re not supposed to-“

“I don’t much care what you’re supposed to do or not.” She said firmly. She gestured to the dead clone on the table, “Apparently, you’re not supposed to feel much of anything.” She held onto his shoulders, and held his head in place. “I much prefer you like this. Feeling. If you were doing what clones were supposed to do, acting as clones were supposed to act, we wouldn't be here. We’d not be together.” She gave him a sad smile, “I’d not be your mate… that’s not what you want, is it?”

“No!” 

“.. Then I think you have to accept the good with the bad.” She said as she gave him a firm hug. “That’s the love, joy, and sadness.” 

His eyes flicked back to the clone quickly, and his mind barraged him with the question of why again. No. He pushed it back. He couldn’t get answers now, and he couldn’t afford to be distracted. 

There was too much work to do.

”I have to… do something with them.” He said as he gestured to the clone. Entrapta pulled away slowly from him. 

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

Hordak shook his head as he reached out to the wall and pressed a button that opened the refrigeration unit. “No.” He said. “The unit is created to dispose of bodies. When I activate that, the body will dissolve into base components. That’s.. useful. 

“For what?”

Hordak gestured to the printer under the computer. “If I hook that up right, put the right attachments on it, certain ... organs, or bones could be produced from the remains.”

Entrapta’s eyes widened as she looked at the machine, then she looked back to Hordak. 

“Hordak.” She said breathlessly, “Do you know.. do you have any idea what that could do for Etheria?” 

“Of course I do.” He said. “ In fact, I tried to implement such technology in the Fright Zone.” There were so many issues that could have been fixed with such technology. Hearts could be replaced, limbs regrown. One of his old Force Captains was even missing an eye, and he knew that such a thing could be easily replaced with such technology. “But Etherians have… issues with people experimenting on their dead.” 

Speaking of the dead. He turned and went back to the. examination table. Trying not to look at the clone’s head, he picked them up and set them gently into the refrigeration unit. He let the door close quickly, then started pressing some buttons on a nearby panel. 

“... Did you ever have a problem with this?” She asked. Hordak shook his head, 

“Of course not. It’s rather wasteful to just… let a body decay. Especially when it could be used to help a greater effort.” 

The disintegration mechanism turned on. A red light flickered over the doors of the unit. “Best not to open that until it’s done.” Hordak said. 

“You forgot to put the brain in.”

Hordak let his eyes flick to the brain, still sitting on the table with tools next to it. He didn’t want to look at it. He didn’t want to be around it at all. It made him sick to look at it, but nevertheless he went over to a shelf, and took down a large jar and some chemicals. 

“I’m going to preserve it.” He said as he detached the last few wires from the brain, carefully labeling each one with the location it had been attached to. “If I’m studying this implant, it’ll be best to have the brain nearby, so I can study that as well.”

“And then we’ll go back to our room?” Entrapta asked. He felt her hair on his shoulder again, another strand around his waist. 

“Soon.” He promised. So much work to do. So much to get done. “I set up a program to try to hack Prime’s computer files. I just want to make sure that’s running properly before I leave it to work. Then we’ll go back.” He looked at Entrapta, and gave her a weak smile, “You rest though. I’ll wake you when I’m done.” He could see that she was about ready to fall asleep on the spot. 

“There’s nothing I can do to help?”

“... You just being here helps.” He said. 

Entrapta came up to him, turned him around from the brain, and gave him a long, deep kiss. Running her hands through his hair quickly. 

“Don’t be long.” She said. “I think you need a break.” 

“I’ve not even started.” Hordak said with a frown, “I hardly need a break from work I’ve not even started.” 

“I don’t mean from the work.” She said, “I mean from everything. I know you feel like you’ve been resting a lot, but most of it’s been recovery, or research. I think you need a real break.”

“I don’t think there’s time for one.” He glanced at Entrapta, and could tell just from her expression that this wasn’t going to be something he could argue very well. “But… I will rest for a little after this.” 

“Promise?”

“You’re half asleep on your feet.” He pointed out. “If you don’t sit in that chair and rest while I finish up here, I’ll force you to take a nap.” He gave her a stern look, “I’ve learned how to do that from the best.” 

Entrapta gave a laugh, That wonderful laugh. That loud, free laugh that ended in a snort. It made Hordak’s heart feel lighter just hearing that. 

She was worried about him, he realized. Of course she was. He had done nothing but make her worried about him since the Frozen Wastes. Now she was worried about what happened in the Fright Zone - 

Ears. Implants. Brains. Crashing. 

-And he’d have to tell her. He didn’t want to, but he didn’t want her to worry. 

He picked her up, despite her protests, and set her down in the pilots chair. 

“Rest.” He insisted, “I won’t be long at all. You might not even fall asleep before I'm done.” 

“Fiiiine.” Entrapta said as she relaxed into the chair. Her hair wrapped around herself, “But don’t go picking at anything fascinating without me.” 

“I won’t”

“Promise?”

“I promise.” 

===============

Just having her around did help. Even when she fell asleep after ten minutes and all he heard from her was her snoring, Just knowing that she was there, that not only did she want to be there but insisted that she be there made him feel better. 

A little anyway. It was hard to get his mind away from the brain now floating in a jar off to the side. He had put it in a cupboard and closed the door while he started making sure the program to hack Prime’s files would work. He didn’t know how long it would take for his system to work. He’d have to make an alert on his data pad to tell him when it was opened. 

The program was simple. First, he backed up the original copy he had, then. Set the program onto the new copy. After a quick test, it seemed that the file would lock him out and send an alarm off to Prime after two failed alerts, but since it was only intended to work on a local connection obviously the alarm wouldn’t go through. 

First, the program had to make a copy, then test two passwords on that copy. If that failed, a new copy would be made, and more passwords would be tested. This would go on until the files were opened. Hordak was able to limit the possibilities to a point, knowing what length they should be, and what would be required for what Prime would consider a secure password. 

It could still easily take days. 

He set the computer to work, and leaned back to watch. It tried two passwords, failed, deleted the locked files and started to copy the new ones. 

Working on a problem helped distract him. Having Entrapta there helped calm him. He walked up to her, and sat down in the co-pilot's seat, taking her hand gently for a moment so as not to wake her. 

He wondered if skin on skin contact had any common biological effect on him. It wouldn't surprise him. Something to think about when he was going through the files from Light Hope. At least Prime hadn't taken that away from the clones. 

Ears. Implants. Brains. Crash. 

Nope. No no no. He pushed that back. He didn’t need to think on that. He needed to think about the program. He needed to think about Entrapta - right here. He needed to think about… hunger. 

Ah. He was hungry. He realized that it was now quite early in the morning, and he hadn’t eaten since the day before, and the trails of the Fright Zone, and the healing of his injuries left him feeling hungry. But he didn’t want to wake Entrapta up just to go get some food, and he didn’t want to leave the program… 

He remembered suddenly the rations they had found, and his ears perked up. How had he forgotten about them!? He knelt down next to the pilots chair and pulled the box out, and took one of the small round rations out of it’s little package. 

With great anticipation, he popped it into his mouth ...And felt disappointed. He frowned. This didn’t taste nearly as good as he thought it did. They didn’t taste bad, mind, but he definitely remembered craving these things when he was in the Horde. He remembered making his emergency rations last as long as they could on Etheria, supplementing the little food he had with halves and then as he ran low quarters of the little balls until he was out. 

He had wanted them so badly after that, and just couldn’t replicate them no matter how hard he tried. He cursed himself for not saving one back then so he’d be able to research it’s composition later ... but it was too late then. 

Well.. no matter. It was still food, and he was still hungry. It was no worse than the Fright Zone rations anyway. 

He got up, and went back to the computer. About ten minutes later the program was onto the second copy. Good. It would run itself, - hopefully- until it found a password that worked. He connected the computer to his data pad, set an alert to tell him when the files were cracked, and then went to wake up a sleepy Entrapta. 

When she didn’t wake up right away, he lifted her up, and carried her back to their room, trying hard to ignore the eyes of the guards that were still on duty. 

  
  
  
  
  
  



	43. The hordak

All things considered, Hordak was having a relatively peaceful morning. Daylight had come and lightened their room, but Entrapta was still fast asleep. Her disrupted sleep had made her more tired than she normally would have been, so she was in deep sleep against Hordak’s chest while he looked through the data pad.

He had things to research. He still felt unwell when he thought about going through the information on the data pad, but somehow the anxiety he normally felt when he considered going over the information seemed oddly distant.

In fact, everything felt oddly distant. He had read once that some races experience emotional relief after an outburst -specifically crying. It was akin to opening up the pressure valve on a boiler. He didn’t know if he felt like this because Entrapta was with him - and Entrapta always made him feel better - or because of his outburst, but even though deep inside a small part of him didn’t want to deal with all the information he might learn, he felt like he could deal with it. 

And as such, he spent the next several hours going over the makeup of the Chilacian brain. He had to keep in mind that the information he had was very old and that he’d probably have to go back to the Lab ship (Ears. Implants. Brains. Crash) to get some more up to date information, but what he had gave him a starting point at least. 

It was coming close to noon when there was frantic knocking on the door. It startled Hordak out of his work, and startled Imp, who had been sitting on Hordak’s shoulder getting his chin scratched. 

Entrapta didn’t stir. Hordak quickly detangled himself from her hair and made his way to the door, opening it quickly and slipping silently out into the hallway. 

Queen Glimmer had been waiting for him. She looked over him in his nightgown, without his armor, and took a step back. 

“Are you alright?” 

Hordak quirked a brow. “Yes. Of course. Why?”

Glimmer looked like she might be about to say something, but shook her head, “We have a problem.” She said instead, “There’s someone here. From the Fright Zone!” 

Hordak felt his ears flick back. “What do you mean.” He hissed quietly. Someone else had followed them and had just been captured, perhaps. Someone had hidden away on one of their ships and had only just been discovered. Hordak hoped that it was one of those things. 

“A messenger.” She whispered, her voice taking on a higher, panicked pitch, “From PRIME.” 

“Who did he send.” Hordak hissed. He thought he had more time than this. No, he had needed more time than this. He wasn’t ready

“Another clone-“ 

“Did he gave a na-.. a call number? A position?”

“He just said he was an ambassador. And he was sent with an “Etherian Representative, and Hordak.. that’s the really bad part. It’s Catra!” 

Catra. 

Like a low burn, Hordak felt the anger simmer up inside him. Odd. When he normally though about Catra these days, his rage was more like a raging wildfire. The idea of Entrapta being tazed and sent to Beast Island all alone and unprepared...

Well, that didn’t matter in this moment. There would be time to deal with her properly in the future, he hoped. Ripping her apart limb from limb would only encourage Prime to use indiscriminate violence against Bright Moon.

“Have they asked for anything yet?” He asked. 

“The guards just said they wanted to have a conversation with me and my “Horde Representative.” She frowned, “Why do they think I have a Horde Representative?”

Hordak suppressed a sigh, his eyes narrowing, “That, Queen Glimmer, is their very subtle way of asking if you have me here.” And it was a clever one. The Horde’s presence here after their caper just the prior day wasn’t a coincidence. They knew that the Rebellion had been there - likely because of that other clone. If signals did get through back to Prime, then he already knew that Hordak was there in Bright Moon. 

He had really hoped that the Clone hadn’t been able to send off any information in the Dead Zone. Apparently he had been wrong. 

If he showed up though, and somehow they didn’t know but had only suspicions, then he would confirm his presence at Bright Moon. However, if they did know and he didn’t show himself, that would… escalate the situation. And they knew that Hordak knew that. 

“I’ll have to do with you.” He said after a moment. He turned to go back into the room. “I’ll get dressed, and -“ He looked down at his arm, still covered in bandages. He didn’t want to go face any member of the Horde with injuries. The one on his face was bad enough - though mostly cosmetic. “Can you have Morgana send up some kind of cape?” He asked, “It’s urgent. And it should match My tunic, if possible.” 

“Do you need a cape?” Glimmer asked, frowning, “I mean, you should get dressed, but-“ 

“I’d like to hide my injuries as best as I can.” He frowned, “in case they get any ideas at seeing me hurt.” He tried to flex his fist under the bandages, and was rewarded with a wave of pain going up to his shoulder. It was healing, but he hadn’t slept well the night previously, so he didn’t heal as much as he would have liked. 

“... Hordak.” Glimmer asked quietly, “Are you in danger here?”

“We all are.” 

“I mean… will they attack us? This messenger and Catra?”

Hordak shook his head, “No. Prime likes to do things properly. The messengers will be instructed to be respectful of you and your court, not break anything, not attack anyone… keep their threats subtle.” He shook his head, “No. we’re safe for now. But we need to bide our time. You need to get us as much extra time as possible out of this.” 

“Who else should I bring in?” She asked. 

“Just us, I think.” Hordak said, “They probably have a handful of guards, but they’ll stay out of the throne room while they’re giving their message. It would be considered rude to outnumber them.” 

Glimmer nodded, then turned to leave. She stopped, and turned back to face Hordak.

“Are you sure you’re alright?”

“Relatively.” Hordak said. He wasn’t alright. There was a list of things that weren’t alright, but all that considered.. “Why?”

“Well… Yesterday was-“

Hordak cut her off quickly, “I don’t want to talk about yesterday.” 

“I know. But all I’m saying is… that was rough? That was a lot?” She frowned, “Adora keeps saying you.. well, I was going to check on you two this morning, but Adora insisted I let you and Entrapta rest. She seemed worried?” Glimmer seemed surprised that Adora would be worried about him. Hordak himself was a little surprised as well. “And… you don’t seem yourself.”

“How so?”

She frowned, then shook her head, “I couldn’t say.” She finally said. “But you’re alright?”

“Aside from the injuries, the mutilations inflicted on the other clones, and the entire situation of teaming up with the Princesses to fight the ruler of the known universe, yes, I’m very well, thank you.” 

Glimmer’s mouth twitched up slightly, “Alright.” She finally said, “meet me in my office, and we’ll head to the throne room from there.”

=========

An hour later, Hordak was in the throne room, standing to the right of Queen Glimmer as she sat in what still seemed to Hordak to be her oversized throne. He wished they had had more time before this. He wished that he could have gotten more information, or that Glimmer had had more experience being queen, or at least in acting like a queen before they had to meet with representatives from Horde Prime. 

Well… No point in worrying about that now. At least Morgana had managed to find something he could use as a cloak. She had taken extra time to fasten a series of silver buttons on black fabric that was gathered up at the shoulders. It draped artistically over his injured arm, making him strongly suspect that Glimmer had passed onto the seamstress why he needed it. 

He was grateful for the gathered fabric though. He hadn’t been able to put on his armor, and though he wasn’t in pain yet (Surprisingly) he knew that he was a far less impressive and imposing sight without it. 

The door opposite of them opened, and the clone and Catra were led inside. The clone had a helmet on, hiding his face and his ears, and wore a white cape that fluttered behind him. 

Catra looked entirely different. 

Her hair had been cut short, the ends just reaching her jawline without the headpiece she normally wore - the headpiece that was nowhere to be seen now. She was dressed entirely in black, and around her neck she wore a plain black collar with a silver crest on the front. Hordak guessed that it was a present from Prime. 

Great. Catra had gotten in Prime’s good graces after all.

“General Catra and Ambassador Horde to see you, Queen Glimmer.” The palace guard said.

General Catra. Hordak suppressed a low growl. General indeed. He wondered how many more soldiers Horde Prime would let her lose before she lost that title. 

Then he remembered that Prime probably didn’t care about the loss of a handful of soldiers. Not yet anyway. 

“Send your guards away, Queen Glimmer Catra purred. “We can have a talk, just the four of us.” 

Glimmer glanced over to Hordak, who nodded, then turned to her guards, “We’ll be fine.” She said. The guards nodded and left. 

Fine would be pushing it, but Hordak wasn’t worried about attack. 

Once the guards were gone, Catra gave what could only be described as a sarcastic bow, “Queen Glimmer and Horde Representative-“ 

The clone lifted a hand and pressed a button on the side of their helmet. The area around the mouth retracted into the sides of the helmet. “It’s hordak.” The clone next to her said in perfect Etherian. 

“Representative Hordak.” Glimmer said. She had made that title up on the spot, Hordak knew. He also knew she meant well, thinking that the clone using his ‘name’ without a title had just been a slight. 

“The Representative hordak, then.” The clone said as they gave a stiff bow while Catra looked up at Hordak and smirked, “Sure. Representative hor-dak” She looked to Queen Glimmer, “Lord Prime wishes to extend his greetings to the Queen of Bright Moon and the leader of the Princess Alliance.” She said. “He recognizes that due to circumstances beyond his - and your control- that you probably don’t have the best view of Horde Prime.” She glanced up at Hordak and put her hands on her hips. “He’s guessing that’s why you took his ship.” 

“As well as one of our own.” The clone said. “Though, we will not request the body back. The location monitoring implant stopped sending information from here hours ago, and Their vital signs had been null for hours before that regardless.” 

Glimmer glanced quickly at Hordak, then back at the others while Hordak cursed in his head. He managed to keep his face a mask, but he knew his ears were twitching like mad-at least to the eyes of another clone.

He should have figured they’d have some kind of location tracking device in it. 

“That’s not while we’re here.” Catra said. “As I said, Lord Prime believes that your actions have simply been poorly influenced up to now. He wishes to make you a deal.”

Glimmer frowned, and sat forward in her chair, her hands clasped together. Hordak wished she wouldn’t do that- it made her look too anxious. 

“Horde Prime wishes an end to the war that’s torn apart our planet, Queen Glimmer.” Catra said with a grin, “Isn’t that what you wanted anyway?”

“What we wanted was to be left in peace.” She hissed. 

“Oh, you will be” Catra said. “Prime doesn’t intend to stay here. Not for long anyway. He’s gonna get the planet out of Despondos, and when he does, we’ll have a whole universe open to us. And of course, Prime will protect us from anything that might want to hurt us.” 

“And in exchange?” Glimmer asked. 

“Well.. The Etherian Horde will be acting as something like a … go between between Etheria and the rest of the universe, so of course you’ll have to submit to the General of the Horde.” She glanced up at Hordak again with that infuriating grin. “Which is me now.” 

“Lord Prime also demands the lives of those Princesses who were involved in the Rebellion- save for one ‘Princess Frosta’ , and the possession of a weapon by the name of “She-ra.” The clone said. “And as well-“

“You’re not getting-“

“Queen Glimmer will have to consider your proposal.” Hordak said, cutting her off. He gave her firm look. 

“Of course.” The clone said. “I will be remaining here until you have a response to send back.” 

“I’m sure that’s not necessary.” Glimmer said, a forced smile on her face. Good. She was trying to rein herself in. “I’m sure I can send a messenger-“ 

“Horde Prime would not wish you to be inconvenienced. I can send word as soon as you reach a decision. 

Of course you can, Hordak thought, you’re sending all this to him right now, aren’t you. 

“Shall I relay the other requirements to you, Queen Glimmer?”

Even though it was all in Etherian, there was something unsettling to Hordak to hear a clone speak for so long without being able to see his ears. Of course he had no ears, but even in Etherian, his voice was flat, like a computer reading text. 

“We cannot return the Lab-Ship.” Glimmer said quickly, then with a glance at Hordak, she added, “And you can’t have Hordak.” 

“I assure you, Lord Prime has no need of garbage. He has no interest in reacquiring a broken lab ship and an old hordak. He doesn’t care about either of them” The clone responded. “You may keep both the ship, and the hordak.” 

No interest. Doesn’t care. Hordak felt anger well up inside of him. He was at least worth being executed. Being captured. Prime must have been enraged that he had managed to survive his execution. He was certain that this play of “No interest; Doesn’t care” was a ploy. 

And if it wasn’t… Hordak felt his ears pin back, his narrow. Prime wanted to treat him like he didn’t matter? Like he wasn’t important? He’d show Prime how massive that mistake, that hordak could be. 

Queen Glimmer frowned, then looked from the clone to Hordak. “ What?”

Catra started to laugh, her hands on her hips, her head thrown back. Glimmer frowned. “What is so funny.” She snapped. 

Catra took a moment to get her laughter under control. “Oh.. Oh I’m sorry Queen Glimmer. The hoooor-dak hasn’t been very good servant to let you make a fool of yourself.” 

Hordak felt his ears slump down, even as his hands started to ball into fists. He felt Glimmer’s eyes on him, then they went back to Catra. “Explain yourself.” She hissed. 

The clone took a step forward. “General Catra refers to the title of your representative-“ 

“He’s been using it as a name.” Catra said in reminder to the clone. 

“Indeed. Hordak isn’t a name, Queen Glimmer. This one should have known well enough to tell you that.” 

“.. It’s not?” She asked, confused. “It’s… a title?”

“More like a slur.” Catra said, her laughter now properly controlled, though the amused tone still lingered in her voice. 

“It is a title.” The clone said. “Of sorts. It refers to those clones who are of no use to Horde Prime. Failure. Garbage. Mistake.” He took a step forward, “I am certain that Horde Prime would be more than happy to send you a proper representative to serve you, should you agree to his terms. There’s no need for you to make do with garbage, not in your positi-“

Glimmer stood up. “That will be enough.” She said, lifting her head as she looked down at Catra and the clone. “You want to send messages to me, very well... I’ll listen to your messages.” She pointed to Catra and the clone, “I will not, however, have someone stand here and show such rudeness to me. I will NOT stand to have a member of my own court insulted before me.” 

Hodak frowned. This was not Glimmer’s tone. This was almost practiced. Rehearsed. 

“You can tell Lord Prime that he can send someone with a better grasp of Etherian manners and grace to make deals with me and my representative.” Glimmer finished as she took her seat again. “I believe we’re done. The guards outside will show you out.” 

“You can’t just turn down Lord Prime, Queen Glimmer.” Catra said. “You won’t have a choice. The other Princesses won’t have a chance. Your only chance is to submit now.” 

“And I will discuss this with dignitaries that know how to act in my court.” She gestured to the door, “Now, would you like me to summon the guards in to escort you, or will you be able to show yourselves out?” 

The clone gave a quick bow. “My apologies” they said, “Lord Prime will have a new representative sent to discuss this matter further with you.” He turned on his heel and started walking to the doors. After a moment of hesitation, Catra turned, giving Hordak one last smirk as followed the clone. 

When the heavy doors closed, Glimmer flopped back into her chair and let out a long breath of relief. 

“How was that.” She said, “That’s biding some time, right?”

“That was… Impressive.” Hordak admitted. “Though I’d be surprised if that speech didn’t come from something.” In response to her confused look, he said, “It had the sound of a practiced speech.” 

Glimmer gave a tight smile and looked away from him. “My mother… said that once.” She said, “I can’t remember who was here, but someone had come to talk to her, and they said something,.... unpleasant about my aunt. That’s how she responded.” She shrugged, “Not word for word…” 

Hordak nodded. “You did well.” Was all he said. He didn’t think it would be a good idea to make any comment on her mother.”You bought us a little time at least. Hopefully, if things are chaotic in the Fright Zone, it’ll take Horde Prime a few days to organize another group to come to Bright Moon.” 

Hordak took a deep breath, gave a quick bow, then said “Well.. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll-“ 

“Wait!” 

Hordak was already a few steps down the stairs. He stopped and turned around. 

“Yes?”

“... What they said.” She said quietly. “Was… was that true?”

“Most of what they said was true, yes.” 

“I mean… about the ‘hordak’ part.” 

Hordak frowned, and looked away. He should have told her before she dealt with the Horde, but it was too late now. Had he been given extra warning, had he not been so out of sorts, he might have thought to. 

“Yes.” He said finally. “Hordak is a word for defective clones. His other translations were roughly accurate.” 

“So… when they call you hordak, they’re calling you… garbage?”

“Mistake is more accurate, but garbage works..” He felt his ears sink and flush. “Though, most would use simply, “Defect.” 

“.. Why-“

Though he wasn’t facing her, Hordak let his gaze sink to the ground. “Because I am defective.” He said. More and more he was learning how defective he was. The emotional outbursts, breathing problems, heart problems, the constant pain - which today thankfully wasn’t so bad somehow- and even just him being here. Him being with Entrapta. 

He was grateful for some aspects of his defect, but they were defects all the same. 

“Well I’m happy for that.” Gimmer said with a frown, “The other clones are a little… unsettling. But no. If that’s what it means...Well, why not use your own name instead?”

Hordak shook his head, “Queen Glimmer.” Hordak said, “Clones do not have names. We have call numbers to start, but once we have proven ourselves we have only titles.” He nodded to the door, “That’s why the clone was only introduced as ‘Ambassador Horde’.”

“... then why not just give yourself another name?” 

“Why does it matter to you.” Hordak snapped, turning slightly. “What does it matter to you what I call myself.” 

“Because I can’t understand why you’d spend so long calling yourself a mistake!” She shook her head, “Does Entrapta know? She’d -“

“She does not.” Hordak said. “But she will. I simply didn’t think it would come up.” 

“So why.” Glimmer pressed, “Why use that? Why .. why call yourself that for so long?”

“... When I came to Etheria,” He said, “I didn’t know the language. It’s an offshoot of Universal Common so I was able to pick out most words, but “name” and “title” confused me.” He shrugged, “I thought I was asked for my title. I gave it; hordak.” 

“But you learned the difference!” She insisted, “You could have -“ 

“By the time I understood the distance, I already had a reputation. Reputation was one of the few things I had back in those days before the Etherian Horde and the Fright Zone was built up as much as it is now.” He shook his head, “No. By then, ‘Lord Hordak’ was a name that brought respect and fear. I needed it. I was used to it… Changing it then would have caused unnecessary hassle.” He felt a dry, joyless chuckle fall from his lips, “Besides that, I imagined I’d eventually get back into Prime’s inner circle. Giving myself a new name would have been seen as disrespectful.” 

Glimmer frowned, but nodded. “I.. think I understand why you might have kept it for so long.” She said slowly. “But.. But why now? Shadow Weaver was Light Spinner when she was here, and she changed her name when she went to the Horde. Why don’t you just… choose a new name now?”

No Interest. Doesn’t care. The anger bubbled inside him slowly. He’d make Horde Prime care. He’d make Horde Prime regret discounting him. Make him regret sending him away. 

Hordak turned to face the young queen, his eyes narrowed in rage, his mouth set in a determined frown. “Because, Queen Glimmer.” He said with barely suppressed rage, “I’m going to be The Hordak. I’m going to be the biggest mistake that Horde Prime ever made. And I will ensure that he knows that before it’s all done.”


	44. Person

When Hordak got back to their room, and it had taken him a little while to wake Entrapta up properly.Then when she was awake, she was upset that Hordak hadn’t woken her up for the meeting with Catra and the clone. 

“Entrapta,” he explained, “Having anyone other than myself and Queen Glimmer in the room would have been taken as an insult. We’re trying to bide our time-“ 

“I could have been waiting for you outside the throne room!” Entrapta insisted as she dressed, “I could have snuck around and listened in!” 

“You were tired.” Hordak protested. “I didn’t want to wake you again.”

“Hordak, I want to be woken up when something like this happens!” She turned around, lifting herself up on her hair so she hovered over him- not too hard to do since he was sitting on the edge of the bed. “Didn’t you want me there?”

Hordak felt pang of guilt, but it was distant. Subdued. “I don’t want you tiring yourself out.” He tilted his head at her, “Besides, they said nothing of importance, I’m relaying anything they did say to you now before we see the others… what?”

Entrapta had seemed angry, but now she seemed confused as she leaned forward and examined him. 

“.. Are you upset?” She asked, “I mean.. yesterday was hard, but other than that… are you alright?”

Hordak frowned. “Queen Glimmer asked me the same thing.” He said. “Why?”

“I don’t know why she’s asking..” Entrapta said softly, “But you seem kinda…” She was hung on the word. Her hair twisted around her as she tried to figure out how to describe it. “Blank?”

“Blank?” He echoed back. “I do not understand.” 

Entrapta reached out, and cupped his face with her hand. He leaned into it slightly, watching her face. She frowned. 

“You’re not reacting the same.” She finally said. “Do you .. How do you feel?”

“... Somewhat odd, to be honest.” He said after a few moments of careful consideration. “I dismissed it, feeling it might just be the aftermath of my … experiences yesterday.” 

“Odd as in…?”

He felt his ears pin back as he considered how to explain it. “Distant?” He ventured, “From myself?”

Entrapta looked at him for a few more moments, then leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips. 

“Alright.” She said. “We’ll take a break after this emergency meeting, and-“ 

“I promised to take a break.” Hordak said, “But I may not be able to take one right now.”

“Hordak!” Entrapta’s voice had a hint of hurt to it, “You promised-“ 

“I need to figure out a way to keep Prime from sending more clones.” He said. “And I need to add some files from the lab’s computer to my Data pad.”

“That can wait!” Entrapta insisted. “I’m worried about you!” 

That guilt again, distant but there nevertheless. “There’s no need to-“

“If I was in your position, you’d be just as worried about me.” 

Hordak felt his ears slump down as he looked away. She wasn’t wrong. 

“Fine. I’ll rest.” He said. He didn’t know how he would rest, but he had promised that he would and Entrapta was worried and… seemingly angry.

Entrapta nodded. “Alright..” She said slowly. She went over to his armor which was piled neatly in the corner. “I’m surprised you didn’t wake me to help you with this.” She said. 

“The arm still needs to be repaired.” He said, “And I don’t think I could have worn it today with my injuries as they are.” He shifted his still throbbing arm. 

Entrapta looked to his arm, then to the armor, then back to Hordak. “Hordak.” She said after a moment, her hair coiling around her, “How long have you been out of your armor?”

“About.. Oh.” He sat up a little straighter, his head tilted in confusion as he sat in silence. 

“... it’s been a while, yes?” She asked. “Easily twelve hours.” 

“Closer to sixteen.” Hordak said. Sixteen hours without his armor. Sixteen hours without any armor, without any support on his body. He had been up, he had performed a partical autopsy, done some programming, had dealt with Catra and the clone, and was in the process of heading to an emergency meeting with Entrapta. He had not been idle. 

And yet. 

“I’m.. not in pain.” Under normal circumstances, every movement would have been agony. He would have asked Entrapta to help him into his armor far earlier than this. “I didn’t even notice how long it had been.” 

Entrapta’s hair puffed up, “We have to figure out why!” She said quickly, “Maybe you were exposed to something in that ship? Or maybe it’s the drugs that the spider bot was pumping into you, or-“ 

“Or something I ate.” Hordak said slowly. He flexed his good arm. No pain. “Perhaps it was something I ate.” 

“What did you eat? I haven’t have breakfast yet, did you get something from the kitchens, or-“ 

“We were in the lab ship.” He said, “I got hungry, and took one of the rations that I found.” 

Entrapta’s eyes darted over to the bag of rations she had set on her worktable nearby. “Fascinating.” She said. “But.. is that really likely? Didn’t you have this pain when you were still in the Horde? Still eating those rations?”

“I.. no. That developed later.” He reached over to the bedside table and grabbed her gloves, passing them to her, “We can consider this later.” He said, “We need to get to that meeting. We’re already late.” 

“Fine.” Entrapta said as she took her gloves and pulled them on, “I guess we better go before they start making assumptions.” She looked at Hordak and gave him a grin. It took Hordak a moment to give her a quick smile back though. She frowend, then leaned in and gave him a quick kiss. 

========

“My apologies for being late.” Hordak said as he and Entrapta strode into the meeting room. 

“I mean, if you wanted to have some private time with Entrapta, you could have called us all here in the evening.” Mermista said with a smirk. Hordak didn’t respond to this, instead he took one of the empty seats that had been brought to the meeting room to accommodate the Princesses Alliance, and the refugees from the Fright Zone. 

At Mermista’s response, he did catch a flicker of horror over the faces of his old troops, But it was directed at Mermista, not at him. No matter. He wasn’t in charge anymore, and they’d learn that fast enough. 

“We had a visit from the Horde today.” Hordak said as he took his seat. “An ambassador.” 

“What did he want?” Perfuma asked. 

“Surrender, of course.” Hordak said. “Apparently, Horde Prime is willing to let Queen Glimmer live, under the rule of the new Horde General. 

“Catra?” Lonnie asked, sitting forward. Hordak nodded. 

“Yes. Catra. That won’t last long though. I have no doubt that she-“ he felt a nudge in his side as Entrapta gestured to Scorpia, who was looking down at the table. “Well. Nevertheless, his demands outside of that are not what you would find to be accomidating.” 

“He’d want all the other princesses, save for Frosta, killed.” 

Frosta frowned, and looked over at Hordak, “Why doesn’t he want me killed?”

“Someone must have mentioned that you’re still a child.” Hordak said, “You’re not considered to be in control of your decisions and actions. He also assumes you can be molded into loyalty to him.” 

There was a long silence around the table. Bow looked about to everyone, and then to Glimmer said, “I can assume you turned this down, so-“ 

“I didn’t.” She said. Then, catching the horrified look of everyone around the table said, “Hordak just told me to bide time.They were being rude to Hordak so I sent them off and told them to send back someone with manners.” 

Lonnie nodded, “I guess after that whole thing in the throne room back in the Fright Zone… Yeah, I guess she feels she has ammunition to be an ass.” 

Glimmer glanced at Hordak with a questioning look. Hordak shook his head. 

“Most important thing to do right now is to find a way to bide more time.” Hordak said. “And the best way to do that for the time is to be exceedingly formal.” 

“You meant like another ball?” Frosta asked. 

“No. Court formalities. I need someone to look up the most time consuming, archaic formalities and make sure they’re followed to the letter.” He frowned and glanced around. “I despise such things, they’re a waste of time in my opinion, but that’s why we need them. We need to waste Prime’s time.” 

“My aunt knows the most about court etiquette.” Queen Glimmer said, “I’ll get her to help.” 

“I wouldn’t call it a waste of time-“ Shadow Weaver added, “But if we want to add some magic to our little display, there’s all kinds of rituals I can think of that take hours of preparation. If a few of them were to be considered a gift, they’d be expected to sit through the preparations, I assume.” 

“And I’m sure we can throw in some military formalities, sir.” Lonnie added, “Scorpia, you’ll help with that?”

Scorpia was still looking down at the table. Adora, who was sitting next to her, nudged her to get her to pay attention. 

“What? Oh. Yes. Right. Right. I can help.” 

Hordak gave a long, relieved sigh. He had worried that he’d have to take all this on himself. He should have known that at the very least Bright Moon would have some ways of wasting time. 

“Are we sure that Horde Prime won’t get sick of it?” Bow asked.

“So long as it’s not obvious that you’re wasting his time, then no. He likes formalities. He likes doing things by the books, and he’s oddly interested in the preservation of culture… at least by his own hands.” He shook his head, “No, play the court dance. If you need to convince him of any other motive, convince him that you’re trying to get him to offer a reprieve to the other princesses.”

“And if he offers that, should we take it?” Queen Glimmer asked.

“He won’t.” Hordak said, “But if he does, we’ll consider that then.” 

“Wait.” Mermista said as she turned to Hordak, “what about you? Would he offer a reprieve to you?”

“I am no his focus at the moment.” Hordak said as his eyes narrowed. 

“Wait.” Adora cut in, “I thought you said that if he knew you were here, he’d come after you, and -“

“I thought that as well.” Hordak snapped, “Apparently I was wrong.” 

“Wait. That don’t make sense.” Lonnie said. “I mean, this guy’s supposed to be the Space Emperor-“

“The Emperor of the Known Universe, yes.” Hordak said. 

“- so.. you’d think he’d take a threat seriously. He sent you to Beast Island to die. He wrecked your armor in front of everybody, and he doesn't think you’re a threat?”

Hordak drummed his fingertips on the table as he considered his words. How did he explain this. “It is… unthinkable to him that one of his clones would act against him in any way.” Hordak said. “It’s not how we’ve been designed or conditioned.”

“How have you been conditioned?”

Hordak looked at Shadow Weaver, who had asked that question. To his silence, she added, “If we’re going to have to deal with these clones, perhaps knowing about their ‘conditioning’ would help us.”

Hordak looked at the table, at his fingers resting on the table top. “Is that.. something that’s necessary right now?”

“I don’t think it is.” Adora said quickly, “I can imagine it’s somewhat like training in the Fright Zone-“

“No.” Hordak said. “Not in the least.” 

“This doesn’t need to be discussed now.” Glimmer said quickly, “I’m sure we can-“

“I hate to push the issue.” Shadow Weaver said over her, “But if we’re attacked, or even if another clone is sent here to have a conversation with us, we need to be prepared.”

“... She’s right.” Hordak said, still looking at the table, unblinking at his hands. “I could write books on this. But I’ll give you all the… talking points, as it was.” He took a slow breath, then without looking up said in quick, stilted sentences. “We’re cloned. We spend enough time in a vitrine until we’re mature. We undergo conditioning in that time- decades of experiences condensed into a few Etherian years. We’re made to be loyal. We’re made to be dedicated. Nothing matters but the Horde. Nothing matters but Lord Prime.” He finally looked up, but he felt more like he was looking through the room, not at anything. “Absolute obedience and loyalty is what you’ll encounter.” He glanced over at Shadow Weaver. “You want a look inside their heads, that’s it. Total obedience.” 

Unless, of course, if you were defective - like he was. 

“That’s more than enough, si- Hordak.” Adora said quickly, glaring up at Shadow Weaver. 

“I should mention as well.” He said, “Generally, they have no regard for their own lives outside of their usefulenss to Horde Prime” 

Glimmer, who had been staring at Shadow Weaver, turned her head quickly to Hordak. “...what?”

“That clone who was here today.” He said, “We sent him off. You said he and Catra had been rude. That would have been considered a failure on his part.” Hordak considered the situation for a few moments. “I find it unlikely at this moment that Horde Prime would necessarily kill him - he’s stuck here for now, and unable to quickly clone new troops. But if he had access to the entire army there’s a good chance that the clone we saw would be killed. He’ll probably just be reassigned here though.”

“Killed!?” Glimmer looked at him in abject horror, “But… But I mean… Catra did all the worst stuff. She was the rude one-“ 

“Is Catra going to be killed?!” Scorpia suddenly exclaimed. Hordak looked over to her, and shook his head. 

“Unlikely.” He said. “Catra is a person. Not a clone.”

There was a sudden cacophony of noise as everyone started talking at once. Hordak was able to pick out several interesting curses - some of which he hadn’t heard before. He felt Entrapta twine her hair around his wrist under the table, twisting around his fingers. 

“You mean he doesn’t treat the clones like they’re people!” Lonnie snapped. She was standing up now, her hands on the table, “that’s not right, that-“ 

“Horde Prime made us.” Hordak said carefully, his voice even. “So we’re-“

“No!” Frosta said this time, standing up and slamming her fist down on the table, “My parents made me and I’m a person! Just because he made you doesn’t mean he owns you!” 

“He can’t just.. treat them like that!” Kyle snapped. It was odd hearing Kyle snap anything. “I mean, yeah, they were awful to us, but they were still people-“ 

“You don’t understand.” Hordak said with a shake of his head. “It doesn’t matter what you think on this anyway. What matters, if you want to know how they think, is that they think that. He That Horde Prime thinks that. If a proper, functional clone were to fail Horde Prime?” He shook his head again, “If they were defective-“ He hissed out the last word, “Then they should be happy to die in the most efficient way possible for Lord Prime.”

There was a long silence around the table. 

“Fuck Horde Prime!” Frosta said, breaking the silence. Everyone, Hordak included, snapped their heads to the small child. 

“Frosta!” Perfuma said, shocked, You shouldn’t say that word!” 

Frosta pointed to Lonnie. “She said it though.” 

“Yes.” Perfuma said, leaning forward and whispering poorly, “But she’s from the Fright Zone. They’re scary and -“ 

“I can hear you.” Lonnie snapped as she turned her look to Perfuma, “And you do realize that until yesterday we were convinced that all you princesses were these primal magical gods wanting to control the world, yes?”

“We’re getting off topic!” Glimmer said as she rubbed her temples. Ah, a gesture that Hordak recgonized. She was learning what it meant to be a ruler. “Ok. So. We keep Horde Prime occupied, and buy ourselves more time.” She turned to Hordak, “Time for what though? You said you have a plan.” 

Hordak sat up straighter, “I do.” He said, “And it’s a better one than I had last time we discussed this.” 

“No more virus?” Mermista asked. 

“No no. I’m still going to use a virus.” He explained, “but it’s going to be a computer virus.” 

“... They’re not computers though.” Frosta said 

“.. The Implants!” Bow exclaimed. Hordak let a brief smirk twitch up the corner of his mouth. Bow wasn’t nearly as smart as Entrapta, but he caught on quickly. 

“Exactly.” Hordak said, “The implants. I’m not certain on the specifics yet, but I think I can create something that, with some luck and planning, can be sent out to every clone in the universe.” He frowned, “Though, doing that will take a little more time. I need to study the implant better than I have. I should rebuild it, have some copies around that I can tinker with. There’s some programs in my personal files that will help with troubleshooting and debugging, and then-“ 

“What you’re saying-“ Shadow Weaver interrupted, “Is that you can do it.” 

Hordak nodded. “Most likely.” He said. “But I’ll need time. I need my personal files. The program I made to hack that could take days. Meantime, I can work on recreating the implants, and..” He trailed off as he realized that most everyone around the table was staring at him in confusion, save for Entrapta, and surprisingly, Bow. “It’s doable. I just need time… and I’m unsure how much time it may take.” 

“Ok. Glimmer said, “Hordak and Entrapta will work on this virus thing. Meantime, the Princess Alliance and the Fright Team-“ 

“... I beg your pardon?” Hordak said with a frown. Glimmer looked at him, and gestured to the refugees from the Fright Zone.

“Them. They’re the Fright Team.” 

“Hordak pinched between his eyes, “Of course they are.” 

“We get a team name?” Kyle asked, “Hey, can’t we think up our own then?”

Scorpia perked up, “Oh! We could be-“

“If there’s no more questions, I can get to work on this?” Hordak asked.

“We need to come up with some solutions to buying some time” Glimmer said, “So, I think that yeah, we can work on that.” 

Hordak nodded, got up, and turned to the door.

“Hordak?”

He turned, and looked at Glimmer, “Yes?”

“... get some rest.” Glimmer said after a moment of silence. “You’re...Well, you’ve only rested when you’ve been injured, I think?” 

Entrapta bounced out of her seat and wrapped her hair around Hordak’s waist, pulling him towards the door. “He promised he’d rest a little.” Entrapta said, “I’ll make sure he takes a break, and -“ 

“You realize that applies to you too, Entrapta?” Bow asked, “You tend to get really involved in your projects, and -“

“Oh, I know!” Scorpia, “She forgets to eat, doesn’t sleep like she should- “

Entrapta led Hordak out of the room as the others listened to Scorpia. Hordak felt a dull heaviness in the pit of his stomach. Entrapta would want to have that talk now, he was sure. He wasn’t looking forward to it. 


	45. Repaired

Entrapta practically dragged Hordak from the meeting room all the way back to their room, her hair around his waist, and him actually struggling to keep up as she was moving on her hair, not on her feet. The Brightmoon guards were amused, but said nothing. 

Hordak found himself very glad that everyone else was still in the meeting room. 

They got to their room, and she swung open the door, pulled him in, and closed the door quickly behind her. Hordak was inelegantly deposited on the bed next to Imp, who had been sleeping but woke up with a screech as Hordak’s landing startled him into wakefulness. 

Entrapta’s hair tugged his makeshift cape off of him. “You are going to talk to me.” Entrapta said. She took off her boots and crawled onto the bed, propping herself up against the pillows. “You are going to lay here-“ She pulled him towards her, and leaned his head against her chest, “-You’re going to relax-“ She took off her gloves, and started running her hands through his hair, “- and you’re going to…” She trailed off. 

“What?” Hordak asked. She had been on a rant there. He was glad she had stopped, but it was unlike her. 

“...It’s nothing.” 

“It’s clearly not.” He said, “And you’re the one saying I should be talking to you-“ 

“It’s… Well, you normally kinda… you know. Go a little limp when I play with your hair.” She frowned, and checked something on her data pad. “From what I can tell it’s too early for rut-“ 

Rut. Right. He frowned. “Oh… Oh that’s going to be fun here.” He muttered. He’d have to think of something to tell the others so that they would leave him and Entrapta alone for a few days. 

Entrapta put the data pad down on the bed and leaned into the back of his head, breathing gently against his ears, “You must be very upset if this isn’t calming you down.” 

“...I’m not, actually.” Hordak said, surprised. He glanced up and saw Entrapta’s frown. “I’m not lying!” He protested, “Just.. I feel. Well, like I said earlier.” 

Entrapta shook her head, “Shock perhaps.” She said. “Exhaustion. Still. You’re talking to me.” She leaned down, pressed her forehead against him and kissed the back of his head gently, then continued running her fingers through his hair. “Now… Tell me everything.”

Despite the situation, Hordak couldn’t help give a little smile. 

“Everything, in this situation, covers a lot.” He said. He was silent for a while, then relaxed into her as he lifted his palms to his forehead, rubbing his head gently. He had a … not a headache. It was odd. It was like there was a pressure under his skull. He still felt washed out from earlier which didn’t help. 

Entrapta hummed for a moment. “Ok.” She finally said. “First… whatever happened when the clone attacked me. You don’t know what that was, right?”

“Correct.” He said. “I have theories, but that will require some research.” 

“Later.” Entrapta said. Hordak felt himself stiffen. It wasn’t like Entrapta to pass off a chance to research. “Glimmer.” 

“... Glimmer?”

“She’s different. She’s not being.. Well, she apologized! She seemed concerned about you.” She frowned. “What happened.” 

“I had a talk to her.” He said. “When you left the storage room. She commented that she didn’t know why you were mad. I told her why you were mad.” He frowned. “It’s guilt, mostly, that’s making her act the way she is.” 

“What does she have to be guilty about?”

“Well, she’s worried that I might hurt you. In her mind, if I do either physically or emotionally, it’s her fault because she allowed you to be left in the Fright Zone.” 

Hordak could feel her fingers stiffen in her hair at the memory of being left behind. A dull pang of guilt crept into his stomach. He had left her behind as well - or rather, he hadn’t gone looking for her right away. 

Entrapta hummed for a moment, her hair twisting about Hordak as she thought. “Ok.” She said, “I don’t agree, but I see the logical links that she might take to get there. If she continues to act as I’ve seen her act since we’ve left the Fright Zone, I might be happy to forgive her.” She shook her head. “But that doesn’t explain why she seems -worried- about you.” 

Hordak sighed. He didn't want to go over this right now. But he had to. Entrapta wouldn’t let it go, and he was worried that if he did try to put it off more, she’d be angry. 

“... My trip into the Fright Zone was not an easy one.” He finally said. “Adora saw that. She spoke to Queen Glimmer, I think to tell her to… adjust her behavior towards me.” He frowned. “And…” 

“And?”

“.... Hordak isn’t my name.” He said as he remembered telling Glimmer that he would tell Entrapta about all that. He didn’t want her to hear it from someone else-He imagined that that would upset her and he was getting tired of being such a disappointment to her all the time. “The clones all know that. Apparently Catra knows that now too.” He didn’t want to go over this. This didn’t matter. Hordak WAS his name now, as far as he was concerned. He didn’t want to change it. He didn’t want to go back to a call number…. 

Stupidly, in his opinion, he didn’t want to risk never hearing Entrapta call him Hordak again. She said it with such love and adoration, it never sounded like something bad. 

“What is your name.”

“I don’t have one, technically.”

“...So you made ‘Hordak’ up?”

“No. It’s a title in the Horde.” He frowned, “For defective clones.” 

Entrapta tightened her grip around him. “It’s.. not a nice title, I take it.” 

“It is not.” Hordak said. “Catra knows this now. She made a fuss of it. That’s why Queen Glimmer sent them away. That’s how Catra was being rude.” 

Entrapta played with his hair in thoughtful silence for several minutes. “Do you want to call yourself something different?”

“No. I don’t.” 

“Alright.” Entrapta said. She leaned forward, and kissed his head. “I don’t care what it means in the Horde. You know what it means to me?”

“... Loved?” He guessed?

“My precious, brilliant, beautiful space mate.” She kissed his ears several times, then stopped and pulled back with a low hum. “Your ears aren’t… Twitching as much.” 

Hordak frowned, “My ears don’t twitch that much.” 

“Oh but they do! All the time! And they’re not as blushy as they normally are.” She leaned forward and gently kissed his ears again. “I know it’s important for language, but-“ 

Ears. Implants. Brains. Crash. His breathing did not pick up. The thoughts, the flashes of memory in his head was like music playing in the background. He did however find his hand wrapped a little tighter around a lock of Entrapta’s hair. She looked at the hand, to him, then to his ears. 

“Though… I’m guessing that the ears are for more than just language.”

“It’s hard to explain.” Hordak said. 

“Try? I’m brilliant, remember?” She smiled at him. 

Hordak frowned. He had been worried that if he talked about this, if he tried to properly explain it, that he might break. He hated feeling like that. He felt more like he could talk about it today for some reason. He didn’t feel like it was going to crush him today. 

“The ears are essential for language.” He said. “I’ve explained that before.” He glanced up at Entrapta, who nodded. “But… The movement of the ears weren’t created to assist the language. They language evolved to work with the ears..” He frowned as he tried to figure out a way to explain it. “Even if I couldn’t speak, to another of my kind I’d be able to communicate how I was feeling in depth. I’d be able to express myself. But… if something happened and I didn’t have my ears, I wouldn’t be able to do that even with our original language.” He looked off at nothing, distant suddenly, “I suppose that’s why they don’t speak Chilacian anymore. Without the ears it’s useless.”

Entrapta frowned as she considered this. She wasn’t getting it, Hordak could tell. 

“Imagine if you came across someone who … who had all their facial muscles removed.” He said. “They still had eyes and a nose and a mouth, but the skin was a mess of scar tissue, and didn’t move.” 

  
  


“That.. Why would anyone-“

“Then add to that.” Hordak said, “You… somehow, they took away your ability to have any intonation to your voice. Then they remove every word that involved feeling from your vocabulary.” He looked up at her. He was holding up better than he thought he had been. Yesterday, thinking about this had thrown him entirely. Examining the clone had…

Well, it didn’t matter. A moment of weakness. Clearly he was better now. 

“Just to start… how awful would that be to see, Entrapta?”

“.... I think I’d be having nightmares about it for a while.” She admitted. 

“And then… when you really consider how that’s affected them.” He shook his head, “They’re isolated. Each one of them.” 

“... and I’m guessing.” Entrapta said as she leaned forward, holding him close, “That when you saw this in the Fright Zone you-”

“I did not react well.” He admitted. Adora saw that, and I believe that’s why she had a talk to Queen Glimmer on my behalf. 

“How did you react?” She asked. 

“My breath again.” He said, “It’s… well, a part of my defect is some problem with my breathing, and my heart. I am unsure why, but at times I have trouble breathing, and my heart seems like it’s trying to escape. I believe that emotional distress makes it worse.” 

“LIke when we were talking to LIght Hope.” She said. Hordak nodded. “But I never saw you like that before-“

“It lapses.” He said, “Intermittent. And I was ... relatively relaxed around you.” He reached up and cupped her face, giving her a brief smile. 

“..You should have stayed in bed last night.” She said. “You should have stayed here and let me take care of you -“ 

“You needed to sleep.” 

“But you needed me!” 

Somehow, saying, “I could have managed.” didn’t seem right. Of course, if she hadn’t woken up he would have gone to the lab ship on his own.. And while the aftermath of that had been awful and felt him feeling distinctly ashamed, he knew that he’d feel so much worse if she hadn’t been there.    
  
“I always need you though.” He muttered instead. 

Entrapta gave a hum that could have been acceptance or happiness as she traced the edge of her ear. “Well..” She said, “So long as you know that.” She paused for a moment, thoughtful. “I still wish you hadn’t gone to the ship.”

“I had to.” He said. “I had to know. I had to see what was done… I didn’t expect a massacre.” He took a long, deep breath. Somehow today he could look back at it, remember what had been done to the clone he had dissected and examine the memory. “I didn’t expect all the modifications. Why would Prime-” 

He stopped. Of course. Of course! He was so stupid.    
  
“Hordak?”

  
“How did I not figure it out before.” He went to sit up but Entrapta kept him down, “Nope. You’re not going anywhere.” She said.    
  


“I wasn’t going to. I was just going to sit up.”   
  
“Nope. You’re going to lay right here and tell me what you figured out.    
  
“Well…” He went over the pieces again. Ears. Implants. Brains. “Obviously, it’s isolation and control.” He said. “The ears keep them from communicating openly as they normally and naturally would with one another. The alterations to the brain would potentially limit their desire to do that anyway. It would limit their desire to connect, to feel.” He frowned. “And the implants gives Horde Prime a backdoor into the minds of every single clone in his army.”    
  
“And.. you figured out the why?”

“The why.” Hordak said. “Given our conditioning, our training, there’s no need for such control. Every clone should be obedient. There’s not a clone - a proper clone- in his entire army that would willingly defy him. Ideally, there’s no need for such measures. 

Normally. Of course, he had defied Prime, but he was defective - he didn’t count.    
  
“So why?” 

Hordak almost smiled. “So..If he feels the need to implement these measures over his entire army.” He looked up at her, waiting for her to finish the idea.    
  
“... Then there’s some clones who ARE defying him!” She said as she understood what he was saying. “We can-” He hair fell limp. “Oh...I was going to say that we could try to find one, but I guess with the implants we can’t.. Horde Prime would know what we’re up to.” 

“For now.” Hordak said, “But I think I have a plan, I-”

He was interrupted by a knock at the door. Entrapta groaned and flopped back into the pillows. Hordak tried again to get up, but was held down by Entrapta who got up instead and opened the door.    
  


“Entrapta! HI!” Scorpia said, trying to peek into the room, “I came to see Lord Hordak. I mean, I guess he’s just Hordak now.” She said with a nervous laugh, “I mean, not that I didn’t want to come and see you too! Just-”

Entrapta smiled at Scorpia, then glanced down the hallway, “You have guards following you?”

“Yeah. I mean, makes sense. At least we’re not in a real prison!”    
  
Hordak managed to sit up on the edge of the bed, How did the meeting go -mmmgh.-” He hadn’t even had the question out when Entrapta silenced him. He caught Scorpia suppress a giggle as she watched. 

“No meeting questions.” She said, “You need to rest.” She turned to Scorpia, “Sorry.. But if you needed him for something-”    
  


“Oh! Oh no, I have something for him. I mean, I wanted to give it to him earlier, but we were in the Fright zone, and everyone was around. And then you guys were in the lab, and Adora said I should leave you guys alone for a while..” She glanced around Entrapta to Hordak. “Can I come in?”

Hordak stood up, not one to want to be laying down on the bed when there was company. Entrapta let Scorpia come into the room, but kept the door open. Scorpia took a careful step in, and eyed all the computers and equipment they had set up.    
  
“Woah.” She said. “It’s like a mini sanctum.” Scorpia said, 

“I've done the best I could with the limited resources I’ve had available.” Hordak said.

Scorpia gave a nervous laugh as she walked over to him, then held out a small pouch that she had been holding in her claws. “Here.” She said. “I saved it.” 

Hordak frowned, confused. He opened the pouch and dumped the contents into his hand.    
  
Pink and purple, glittering in the light of their computers, the original gem for his armor now had a multitude of cracks in it, but had been put back together with some kind of clear adhesive. He could still make out the markings on the face of the jewel. Loved. He looked at it, shocked, then looked up to Scorpia. 

“Prime destroyed this.” He said, “How-”

“Well, when everything was calmed down, Kyle and I grabbed the fragments, Jason was able to get us some glue that he said would hold anything together, and Lonnie and Kyle worked on putting it back together.” She held her claws out, “I mean, I couldn’t help with that part.”

“This must have taken hours.” He said, still shocked. This was a loss. This was a tedious, needless project. 

“Well, we had a lot of time to pass while we were hiding anyway.” She said, “And.. And I thought if you ever made it back, you might like it back. I don’t think it works anymore, it doesn’t shine the same, but… I thought you’d want it for sentimental reasons. 

Entrapta came up to look at it, and wrapped Scorpia in a right embrace with her hair, which Scorpia returned. 

“I can’t believe you put it back together!” She said, her voice slightly pitched with joy. 

Distant, subdued, but it was there. This deep, deep feeling of gratitude. The gem that Entrapta had put in his suit. The gem he hadn’t even known the meaning of until it seemed too late. Cracked and powerless as it was, it meant more to him now than it ever had before. He gently closed his fingers around it and held it to his chest.    
  
“Thank you.” Was all he was able to say. 


	46. Hypothesis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was delayed because I caught the blight! I’m relatively healthy now, but decided that in the interest of taking care of myself and making sure that I rest, I’d just skip my normal Monday update and post today. 
> 
> It’s flu season peeps! Take care of yourselves. get your flu shots if you can, and stay home if you get sick! Sick days just mean you can binge read fan-fictions!

. 

While Entrapta had insisted on no work for either of them for the rest of the day, she had made two exceptions. Whatever the nutritional content of the rations that Hordak had found were, there was a high possibility that they had something to do with the lack of physical discomfort that Hordak was experiencing out of his armor, and as such she wanted to get an analysis of them as soon as possible. She had to prep the samples and set the computers to do the actual primary analysis - breaking it into its various chemical components. While she did that, Entrapta relented on her ban on work, allowing Hordak to take care of one bit of business that he wanted to take care of sooner than later. 

The trade off to that was that he had to do it from their room. He sent Imp off with a message and sat down in the big chair and waited. 

“... Are you certain there’s nothing I can do to help with that.” He asked after he had been sitting, watching Entrapta work for only fifteen minutes. He had gone from sitting properly in the chair to slumping slightly sideways, his chin resting on his hand, elbow on the arm of the chair. He was anxious to work, to do something. He knew he was supposed to rest, but watching Entrapta work made him feel like he was doing something wrong by just sitting and waiting. 

“I’m positive.” She said, “I’m just setting this up. It should run on it’s own and have the data for us by the end of the day. Tomorrow I’ll go through the data myself and piece together what’s in it.” She looked over to him, her hair puffing out a little, “If this works you might never need your armor again.” Her eyes widened as something came to her, “If this works.” She said, “I could figure out what’s causing your pain.” 

“The defect-“

“I’m starting to think it’s not a defect.” She said as she turned around in the chair. “I’m thinking that there’s probably some essential micronutrient that you can’t get naturally in Etheria.” She grinned at him, “But I bet I can synthesize it, whatever it is!” 

Hordak nodded. He hadn’t considered that. As he let that information roll through his head, he started trying to piece together other issues, putting together the clues like pieces of a puzzle. 

“You said that the pain didn’t start until later.”

Hordak nodded. “To be fair, at first I didn’t think it was a part of the defect. My landing on Etheria was not …. “ he frowned. He didn’t like thinking about his landing, but at least he could breathe properly while he thought about it now. “It was a crash landing. And the air here has an oxygen content that is higher than I am used to. It made me sick until I started to adjust. At first I thought that the pain that developed was a result of that, but oxygen poisoning wouldn’t account for the degeneration I’ve experienced, and even if it did, when I found ways around that, the degeneration continued- “

“.. So what was the defect?” She asked. “You said Prime cast you away because of your defect. What was it?”

“Looking back.” Hordak said, “there were a lot of small things that were overlooked. I ate more. I slept more, and I can’t quite hold my breath as long as other clones. There were no physical things that accounted for this, and I quickly proved my worth beyond those small issues. I think that Horde Prime chose to Ignore them so long as I was useful…” He frowned. “But the day he cast me out, I had disobeyed a direct order. Then the breathing thing happened. I think that my act of disobedience might have pushed him to stop overlooking-“

“You said that a clone wouldn’t disobey-“ 

“I know.” Hordak said. There was a theory rolling around in his head on that, unformed as of yet. “And the breathing problem… Well, It was so bad that the first time it happened I went to my knees in pain. I had to be brought to the medical bay.” He sat up in the chair. He was amazed that he was talking about this so easily. He didn’t feel the twisting in his stomach that he normally did when he talked about this. “I suppose that issue was too big to overlook, and along with my disobedience and my other minor defects…” he shrugged, “It was too much. I probably should have been cast out well before, but I proved myself too useful.”

Entrapta’s hair was twisting in thought. “Are you certain the breathing thing is a part of your defect…” She asked slowly as she brought up her data pad. 

Hordak frowned. Of course it was. What else would it be? He was about to answer when there was a knock on the door 

“Ah.” Hordak said as he got up. Entrapta raised a brow at him, “You said I could do one thing while you’re working on the rations.” He protested. “This is it.” 

He opened the door, and stood aside to let Glimmer into the room. 

“Hi…” She said as she stepped in, looking around at the computers and letting her eyes rest on Entrapta. She smiled, and after a moment, Entrapta gave her a quick smile before she went back to her work.”I was coming up anyway when I ran into Imp.” She said to Hordak. 

Entrapta turned around, “You said we could rest today!” 

“Yes! I was coming to help you rest!” She insisted, “But then I got Hordak’s message.” She turned back to Hordak, “You said you had an idea.” She said, “What do you need?” 

“Can you send a message to Prime.” He asked her. Glimmer blinked at him, confused. 

“I.. .I’m sure I could?” She said, “What do you want to say to him?”

“Nothing.” Hordak said, “But apparently, I’m recognized as your ‘Horde Representative’. This means I advise you on how to work with the Horde.” He looked at her, deadpan, “As such, I advise you to request a specific clone to be the ambassador- Call number 70H67.”

“... Can we do that?”

“We can.” Hordak said, “It’s uncommon, but shouldn’t cause any issues. If Prime looks into it, All he’ll think is that I’ve worked with that clone before, and that’s why I want to work with them now.”

“Ok…” Glimmer said slowly, “But why this clone.” 

“Several reasons.” Hordak said, “I was going over some of the.. results of my research regarding the clone, the implants, the alterations-”

“Alterations?”

“It’s complicated.” Entrapta said quickly. 

“Right.” Hordak said, “Well, I have a theory that there might be some other clones that Horde Prime may not have complete control over.” He said, “Otherwise, why would he need the implants and the… other things.” He trailed off. He didn’t feel quite so sick at the idea of what was done to that clone, but he still didn’t like it. 

“Alright.” Glimmer said after a moment, “But why a specific -“ 

“I worked with him.” Hordak said, “I don’t know if they would be willing to work against Prime, but they might be willing to help me.” He didn’t even know if DH was still alive at this point, but this was another reason he wanted to request that they be the ambassador- If they said no, there was a good chance that DH was dead by now. That was probably best though. He didn’t think that DH would last very long in this new Horde that Prime had made. 

“Oh?” Entrapta asked as she pushed herself towards him on her wheely chair, “You didn’t tell me that.” 

“I tried to.” Hordak said slowly, “You said no work for the rest of the day. You sushed me with your hair. Again.” 

“Oh.” She turned around, and sat on the chair backwards as she leaned forward. “Why would one of Prime’s clone’s help you?”

“I’d like to know that too.” Glimmer said. “This sounds like a very big risk.” 

“In short, we worked together for a long time. They were my assistant, in a sense. I observed some abnormalities that wouldn’t have been considered a defect necessarily, but would have been considered…” He hesitated on the right word. “Strange” He finally settled on. “We were close-“

“You were friends?” Entrapta asked. 

“There were no friends in the Horde.” Hordak said. “... but if there had been, then we would have been considered friends, yes.” 

“And you think he’d help you now?” Glimmer asked. 

“He owes me a big favor.” 

“Big enough for him to betray Prime?”

“Potentially.” Hordak crossed his arms, “I disobeyed a direct order from Prime to attempt to save him and his troops from being caught in an attack. This led to a series of events that led Prime to discover my defect.” 

Glimmer looked confused as she glanced from Hordak to Entrapta. After a moment, she said, “Wait… is your defect that you disobeyed him?!’

Hordak shook his head, “No, it’s-“

“An interesting theory!” Entrapta said, “I have some circumstantial evidence that some of the symptoms of his defect are in fact not a result of a defect. More research is needed, but I’m hoping that after I-“ 

“It… is possible.” Hordak said quickly, “That my defect could have affected my conditioning.” This was one of the little puzzle pieces that he was eying in his mind. It seemed right, but he didn’t know where it fit -not yet. It was simply a hypothesis. “It could have made the conditioning less effective than it should have been, and as a result I could be more likely to disobey an order than a normal, healthy clone.” He shook his head, “But I do not believe that that on its own could be a result of….” He trailed off as he watched Glimmer. “What?” He finally asked, “you’re staring at me.” 

“You’re strange.” She finally said, “I mean.. I mentioned it earlier, but-“

“He’s not himself!” Entrapta exclaimed, her hair puffing out around him. “He’s not speaking the same. He’s kinda deadpan. He’s not gesturing like he normally does, his ears aren’t twitching-“ 

“Do his ears twitch that much?” Glimmer asked, frowning, “I only ever noticed it a few times. When they get all droopy-“ 

“Is this really necessary?” Hordak asked as he eyed the princesses. 

“Yes!” They both said in unison. Gimmer looked at Entrapta, then cleared her throat as Entrapta continued, “You’re displaying behavioural abnormalities that could dictate a deeper problem. This is why I want you to rest! If everything back at the Fright Zone affected you like this…” She frowned, and looked up at him, a certain sadness in her eyes, “I … I want -my- Hordak back.” 

Deep down, he felt a pang of guilt. He hadn’t realized he was acting differently. He hadn’t noticed that he wasn’t speaking the same, or gesturing the same. He hadn’t noticed a difference, except that he was able to deal with all the information he had, everything he had learned about what had been done to the clones without wanting to curl up into a ball. 

“I… I apologize.” He said slowly. “I did not realize that I had changed that much. Or that it was bothering-“ 

“It’s nothing to apologize for!” Entrapta said, her hair wrapping around his wrist, “I just.. I just want you to rest. I want you to feel like yourself again.” 

Hordak reached down, and rested his hand on top of her shoulder. He’d try harder if he needed to. He didn’t know why he wasn’t acting the same, but he’d try to make her feel better. He’d pay attention, and at least be more affectionate to her, if that’s what she needed. 

Glimmer cleared her throat, “On that note.” She said, “That’s why I came here.”

Entrapta tore her eyes away from Hordak and looked at Glimmer, “Oh?”

“Uh… consider this in part an.. apology? And an attempt to help things.” She said flushing slightly, “It was Bow and Adora’s idea, but… I called in some favors.” 

“An Apology?” Entrapta echoed. 

“I.. yes. An apology.” She looked aside, “LIke I said… I realize I hadn’t been making things easier.” She looked back to Entrapta, “This is all still very weird to me though. But… But I want to do my best! I want to do what’s right! For everyone. For you-“ she glanced up at Hordak, “And even for you.” 

“What was Bow and Adora’s idea?” Hordak asked. He didn’t like the sound of them all plotting together. Even if they had his best interests at heart, he didn’t know if the results would be ideal. 

“Well. Bow mentioned that you- “ She gestured to Entrapta, “Probably wouldn’t rest while there was so much space tech around to play with. Scorpia said that from what Entrapta told her, you-“ She turned to Hordak, “Spend most of your time working, so the two of you, in a room with tech, and a space lab just outside, probably wouldn’t be able to rest well.” 

“... I admit the call of new technology to explore does make it difficult to make sure he takes it easy for a day.” Entrapta said. Hordak gave her a sharp look.

“You need to rest too.” He said, “And I know you want to go and tinker with all that new technology. Besides, I never forget to eat while I'm working.”

“Yeah, well, I never once failed to sleep for three days -“ 

“Anyway!” Glimmer said. “I talked to Aunt Castaspella, and she was able to make arrangements for the two of you.”

“What kind of arrangements?” Hordak asked. 

Glimmer grinned. “Have either you ever been to Mystacor?”

They both shook their heads. Hordak had heard of it, but it hadn’t been an immediate concern when it came to conquering Etheria. “Should I have?” He asked. 

“It’s the safest, most relaxing place in Etheria!” Glimmer said, beaming. “Horde Prime’s troops won’t be able to get there, and they have a giant spa.” 

“... you’re suggesting Hordak and I take a spa day?” Entrapta asked, her hair shrugging up as it normally did when she was confused. 

“They do have some private spas, so you won’t be interrupted or gawked at.”

“I’m not sure I’m really a spa kind of person….” Entrapta said slowly. Hordak was glad for her comment- at least he wasn’t the only one who didn’t like this idea. 

“They have a lot of tiny snacks.” Glimmer said quietly, “In fact, I’m sure the cooks there were working to make some special ones for the first visit of the Princess of Dryl.” 

Entrapta’s hair twisted about her, “That… That does sound tempting.” 

“And I’m sure you can enjoy them among the corpses of anyone working there.” Hordak said, “Because they’ll die of a heart attack when they see me there.” 

“No they won’t.” Glimmer said, though even she didn’t seem entirely convinced. “They’re professionals, and you’d be going as a guest of Entrapta and as a special favor from their ruler and the Queen of Bright Moon.They’ll have warning that you’re going to be there, and they’ll be tripping over themselves to make you both happy and relaxed.” She turned around and started to leave, “Anyway. It’s a formal order for Hordak. He needs to rest, and I doubt his ability to properly rest here. If he needs to be ordered to take care of himself-“ 

“Oh he does.” Entrapta agreed, “All the time. This one time he-“ 

“That’s enough.” Hordak said quickly, “I understand. I have no choice in this.” 

“Not really, no.” Glimmer said with a grin, “And if you’re going, I’m sure Entrapta will go as well.” 

Entrapta nodded. Glimmer beamed at them, “Excellent! I’ll let my Aunt know, and you’ll be heading there within the hour. You’ll spend the rest of the day there, and be back here in the evening.” She grinned at Entrapta, “Consider it a… Couples spa day.” 

Hordak suppressed a sigh, and wondered if it hadn’t been better when she was against their relationship. 


	47. Castaspella

Hordak decided that it wasn’t teleporting that he didn’t like, it was any form of magical transportation that unnerved him. He didn’t like transportation that he couldn’t understand and explain. 

Teleportation was bad enough. Floating through clouds on a giant rock was worse. He was certain there was some kind of science behind it- what was magic but unexplained science according to Entrapta- but he didn’t like that it was unexplained. He didn’t like that there was no logical reason why this rock didn’t simply decide to drop out of the sky and bring them swiftly to a painful and gruesome death. 

Regardless, they got to Mystacor safely. When they arrived out of the clouds to a distant cliff there was actually a carriage waiting for them, pulled by horses that thankfully didn’t seem capable of speech. 

“Come on.” Glimmer said as she led them to the carriage, “Aunt Castaspella sent this for us.” 

“Wise.” Hordak said as he eyed the carriage. The windows were all covered with thick looking curtains, and from where he stood there was no way to see inside. Imp, who was on Hordak’s shoulder, glared at the horses. 

Hordak guessed that Imp didn’t like horses any more than he did now. 

Glimmer shot him and Entrapta an apologetic look, “Well.. when I brought Adora here, I just kinda skipped over the part where she used to be in the Horde. You’re a little… Obvious.” She frowned, “You working with the Princess Alliance isn’t really common knowledge yet, so you showing up at Mystacor suddenly would cause some panic.” 

Entrapta let her hair carry her to the carriage, “Does that mean we need to announce that he’s helping?”

Hordak frowned, “To a point.” He said, “that could be done.” 

The doors opened, and they sat inside. There were already some snacks set out for them - tiny chocolate cupcakes for, fizzy drinks, and a tray of sliced fruits. The carriage took off once the door was closed, and they trundled away from the cliff that they had arrived on. 

“I thought that you helping us was top secret.” Glimmer said as she helped herself to a cupcake. 

“It is.” Hordak said, “That I’m helping you against Horde Prime is a secret. But Horde Prime is recognizing me as your representative to the Horde. Or at least he’s playing along with that.” He skewered a sliced strawberry with a claw and dropped it into his mouth carefully. He wasn’t particularly hungry as the rations he had eaten were very filling, but he had found that he enjoyed strawberries. Since he had landed on Etheria, he hadn’t much cared how something tasted until Entrapta started experimenting to see what kinds of foods he liked. 

So far, strawberries were best. Imp liked them too, and jumped down from Hordak’s shoulder to start eating a very large piece of strawberry. Glimmer had asked before they left why Imp was coming too, to which Imp just hissed at her in response. Imp had been oddly protective of Hordak since he had come back from the Fright Zone. Since they first arrived at Bright Moon Imp had spent a lot of time exploring the new environment and sneaking around, but since the Fright Zone incident he hadn’t left Hordak’s side. Hordak still felt a little nugget of guilt deep inside for having forgotten about him and leaving him to travel with the Princesses and as such, if Imp wanted to come to the spa day with him, Hordak wasn’t going to force him to stay back at Bright Moon.

“What do you mean he’s playing along?” Glimmer asked. 

“No work!” Entrapta said with a frown. She was halfway through her first fizzy drink, but was willing to ignore it to ensure that the rest of the day remained a work free day. “I know I asked if we were going to tell people, but no talking about Jerk Prime.” 

Glimmer stifled a laugh, nearly choking on the cupcake that she was eating. Even Hordak felt his lip twitch up slightly. 

“At any rate.” Hordak said as he leaned back against the padded carriage bench, “I see no problem with making it public knowledge that I’m working as Horde Ambassador. But we can go over the details after all this.” 

Glimmer nodded, and took a drink for herself, clearing her throat before she took a long drink in attempt to soothe her throat. 

Hordak turned to look out the window but remembered that the curtains were tightly drawn. He turned back and looked to Entrapta. “What constitutes a spa day.” He asked. This had been decided for him so quickly that he hadn’t had an opportunity to ask. He knew- vaguely- what a spa was, but had never been to one and had never researched one. 

“Uh, I have no idea.” Entrapta said with a smile, “But I’m imagining manicures and pedicures.” She looked down at her gloved hands, “I just hope they don’t try to convince me to get those awful fake nails.” 

“Oh it’s all arranged.” Glimmer said, “Don’t worry about that. All you guys need to do is show up.” 

Entrapta finished her drink and scooped up a mini cupcake with her hair, “Speaking of that.” Entrapta said with a glance at Hordak, “I’m glad you didn’t protest this… but I expected more protest.” 

Hordak shrugged, “Would there have been a point?” He asked as he looked from Glimmer to Entrapta. “It's been made clear that it’s an order to come here, and Entrapta has demanded that I rest. I see no reason to protest the inevitable.” 

“... Yeah, but you normally do anyway.” 

Glimmer glanced between Hordak and Entrapta, and then looked at the curtained window, her cheeks flushing slightly. 

Hordak considered this. Normally when Entrapta wanted him to do something like this, like take a nap, like wear a silly bat suit, or other embarrassing, often intimate things, he at least made a show of protesting. He wondered why he hadn’t bothered this time. 

He caught Entrapta’s eyes as he pondered this. They flicked from his face to his ears. She had been doing that a lot more today, since she pointed out that his ears weren’t moving as much. He forced a smile at her. “If it makes you happy, I will do this without complaint.” He said, 

“Aunt Castaspella said she asked for the best people to do a perfect relaxing spa day for you two.. while she ‘catches up’ with me.” She sighed, and looked aside. 

“You do not care for your aunt, then?” Hordak asked. 

“It’s… She’s a bit much.” Glimmer admitted. “... and she’s going to ask a lot about how it’s been being queen of Bright Moon.” 

Hordak knew well enough to drop the subject. He would have been content to let the awkward silence linger around them, but he was hit with a sudden realization. 

“Wait.” He said, “What’s your aunt’s name again?”

“Castaspella.” Glimmer said. 

“And she is…?”

“Uh..” Glimmer frowned at him, “She’s the Top Sorceress and Ruler of Mystacor.” 

Hordak looked from Glimmer to Entrapta. “And… And her name is Castaspella. Cast-a-spell-a?”

“Yeah?” Glimmer gave him a strange look. “Why?”

Hordak shook his head and took up another piece of Strawberry. Etherians were strange.

———————-

The carriage stopped a while later, and the doors were opened by… Hordak hesistated to call them guards given they carried no weapons, and had no discernable armor but then he remembered that this was a kingdom that focused it’s resources on magic, and that unarmed, unarmored guards could be dangerous. 

Before them stood a woman that Hordak assumed was Queen Castaspella since she went up to Glimmer and engulfed her in a very tight hug. 

“My darling Glimmer, I’ve been so worried about you.” She said. 

“It-It’s good to see you too, Aunt Castaspella.” Glimmer said, red faced as she tried to pry herself from her aunt’s grasp. When she finally let go, Glimmer took a queenly posture, and gestured to Entrapta and Hordak. “Aunt Castaspella, This is Princess Entrapta and…” 

“And Lord Hordak, I presume.” She said, her tone dropping all the warmth it had when she was talking to Glimmer as she took on an icy formality. 

“It is simply Hordak.” He said as he gave a quick bow. He hated bowing, but he was in another kingdom, before that kingdom’s queen, who happened to be ally and family to the queen he had surrendered to and was now serving under. 

He could at least bow. 

“I see.” She said, “It would be hard not to know you. Since-“ 

“Aunt Castaspella.” Glimmer said, reaching out and touching her arm, “I .. really need to talk to you, actually.” She glanced at Entrapta, and then back to her aunt. “And these guys need -“ 

“Right.” She said, “Princess Entrapta and her consort are in need of relaxation. It has been arranged as a favor to my niece.” She turned away, Ignoring Hordak’s quickly stifled protests at being called a ‘consort’. 

“And while they’re doing that… we’ll have some quality time?” Glimmer asked, “A dinner. A talk. You’ve been saying you wanted to teach me knitting-“ 

Hordak felt a dull feeling of appreciation as it occurred to him that Glimmer was buying them this day of relaxation by spending time with aunt who could apparently ‘be a bit much.’ 

“Right!” Queen Castaspella said, brightening up suddenly. She turned away and lifted her hand, gesturing for someone to come over to them. Two young ladies approached them- clearly identical twins. They had long black hair and seemingly differentiated one another by the color of the headbands they wore as they were dressed in plain white uniforms. They had the same roundish faces, the same button noses, the same round ears and the same long fingers. 

“This is Jade-“ Queen Castaspella gestured to the one with a green headband in her hair, “And Amethyst.” She gestured to the one with a purple headband. “They have volunteered to be your attendants for today, since for obvious reasons you’re being given a private spa experience.” She smiled, inclined quickly to Entrapta, and turned back to Glimmer. “I leave you in their capable hands.” She said as she started walking away with Glimmer, who turned and gave Hordak an apologetic look. 

“You know what, Hordak?” Entrapta said as she watched Glimmer be led away, “I think I can overlook how she treated you before.” 

“I think so.” Hordak said. Imp, who had been hiding behind Hordak, now jumped up on his shoulder and nodded. 

“Excuse me.” Amethyst said as she took a step forward, “If I may? We’ll lead to the Steam Grottos to start.” 

Hordak didn’t comment, but he felt his ears twitch very slightly. Steam Grottos actually sounded very nice! He hadn’t been able to bathe in water quite as hot as he liked in Bright Moon. Perhaps the Steam Grottos would be hot enough. 

“So! You guys volunteered?” Entrapta said, following them on her hair with one strand around Hordaks’ waist as they moved along.

“We did.” Jade said with a smile. “They don’t normally ask for volunteers, but given the situation they didn’t want to have anyone who…” She seemed to consider her words carefully for a moment before she continued. 

This moment was apparently too much for Amethyst, who cut in, “The courage. The fortitude.” She added. She glanced back to Hordak, “They didn’t want anyone who would faint at the sight of you…” She pursed her lips for a moment before saying, “Sir.” 

“Princess Entrapta and her Consort.” Imp replayed on Hordak’s shoulder. Hordak turned and gave him a withering glare which Imp simply responded to by sticking out his tongue.

“Just Hordak is perfectly fine.” He said. ‘Sir’ was for military settings in his mind, and he didn’t possess a title. 

“Very well, Hordak.” Jadet said, though she said his name almost awkwardly. 

“She may still call you sir still.” Amethyst said, “She doesn’t like not using a polite title.” 

“At any rate!” Jade said, flushing as she glared at Amethyst,, “We will be your attendants for today. We’re fully trained in all aspects of the spa of Mystacor. If there’s anything you want that has not been provided, let us know, and we’ll see to it.” 

“Also.” Amethyst said, “if either you have any dietary concerns, we will be having lunch, and we can provide a vegan-“ 

“Oh! Hordak can’t eat eggs. Or anything dairy. Wheat will make him sick. Sugar will- “

“Entrapta, please don’t just shout out my issues.” He muttered. 

Jade and Amethyst were silent for a moment, exchanged grins, then looked back at Hordak. 

“No milk, no eggs, no wheat.” Jade said.

“No sugar of any kind?” Amethyst asked. 

“No refined sugar.” Hordak muttered as he was forced to listen to imp snicker at his ear. 

“Very well.” They said, “we will see to it-“ 

“And nothing spicy for me! I hate spicy!” Entrapta added. She turned to Hordak, “I don’t understand how anyone can eat something that hurts their mouth.” 

Hordak himself had tried a variety of spicy foods in his time both in Prime’s Horde, and on Etheria. He realized that he and the other clones - at least DH- had a high tolerance in general for spicy food. Etherian spicy food didn’t even register as uncomfortable to him. 

“Not a problem.” Amethyst said as she continued on walking. 

“.. I must ask.” Hordak said after a moment, “Why did the two of you volunteer.” 

They looked at each other, and then at Hordak, “The professional answer,” Jade said, “is that we relish the opportunity to serve esteemed guests and friends of Queen Glimmer, and do not shy away from such a thing because of personal nervousness.” 

“The real answer.” Amethyst said with a grin, “Was that we heard that they were looking for volunteers to take care of Princess Entrapta and Hordak. That was a very odd combination, and we had to see it for ourselves and try to figure out why Queen Glimmer would send the two of you here, together.” She shrugged. “So, we did it out of curiosity.” 

“Curiosity killed the cat.” Jade muttered. 

“Satisfaction brought it back.” Amethyst retorted with a smug grin. She turned back to Hordak, “And we don’t know how you are considered a friend of Queen Glimmer…. But I think we have figured out why you and Princess Entrapta were sent here together.” She turned to Jade, “Right?”

“We shouldn’t gossip in front of guests.” Jade chided, “... But yes, it’s too obvious.” 

Entrapta brought herself up closer to Hordak, and wrapped an extra tendril of hair around his wrist as she kissed him on his cheek, “Even when your ears aren’t as blushy or twitchy.” Entrapta whispered, “They still think it’s obvious.” She gave a little squeal, followed by her giggle snort. 

Hordak’s ears flicked slightly, but that was all. Imp frowned at him - concerned, but not angry. Hordak figured that maybe he was doing it again. Maybe he wasn’t acting ‘himself.’ 

He smiled at Entrapta, and wrapped her hair around his fingers. At the very least, it was good to hear Entrapta laughing again. The last few days had been so hectic and rough that it felt like it had been years since he had heard her laugh. 


	48. Steam

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Art by LivieLightYear and Myself :D 
> 
> https://twitter.com/livielightyear
> 
> Instagram.com/the_witch_of_the_rock

Perhaps it was because of the various similarities that Hordak’s race had with bats that Hordak had always liked caves. Even back in the Fright Zone there had been something cavernous about the whole makeup of the buildings - the taller ceilings, the dark crevices, the echoing hallways. Oddly, he felt comfortable in caves. 

It was a pleasant surprise then that the steam grotto was a large, dim cave. He figured it must have been built by magic - it had seemingly developed naturally, creating a smooth flat floor and perfect circular pools scattered throughout- but he wasn’t sure if the springs themselves were natural or not. 

He and Entrapta didn’t have much time to look around before Amethyst and Jade came into the grotto, Amethyst carrying a collection of towels, Jade carrying a basket. 

“You decided you didn’t need the robes?” Amethyst asked. 

Before being allowed into the grottos they had been ushered into a changing room and told to change into one of the collections of wraps that were set out- a simple strap that criss-crossed across his and Entrapta’s chest, and a longer wrap around their waists that trailed down the front and back, leaving their legs mostly exposed. None of this had fitted Imp, of course, who managed to find a smaller garment to wrap around his waist. Robes, similar to the fluffy white robes at Bright Moon, had also been provided, but.. 

“Well. It’s a private spa day, right?” Entrapta asked, “Besides, we’d just have to take them off here anyway.” She had her hair around Hordak’s waist, gently guiding him to one of the shallow pools in the grotto, a strand of hair wound around his wrist and tangled in his fingers. 

“This is true.” Jade said as she set the basket down, “We have brought refreshments and -“ She glanced up and noticed the bandages of Hordak’s arm. Her eyes widened slightly as she eyed them. Hordak frowned as he shifted slightly, turning his arm away from her. 

“A minor injury from combat.” He said, “It will be properly healed soon.” 

“I should hope.” Jade said as she dug through the basket, “It’s no matter. I have just the thing for that.” 

Amethyst stood before her sister and gestured to the pools, “Please choose any pool you like. We’ll be over momentarily.” 

Entrapta pulled Hordak gently over to the closest pool. The steam was rising off the surface of the cloudy water, and he could smell mixtures of herbs and minerals wafting through the air. 

“What exactly is in this.” He asked as he leaned forward to examine the water a little more closely. 

“They’re mineral baths, Hordak.” Entrapta said as she hopped in, splashing Hordak and imp a little before she settled against the smoothe stones. “It’s really relaxing!” 

“I thought you hadn’t been here.” 

“I haven’t. But there’s hot springs in Dryl too.” 

“Minerals, and a special herbal supplement.” Amethyst said as she approached them. She had two fancy looking glasses held by the thin stems in one hand, and a bottle of some kind of juice in the other. “It’s a secret what the mixture is, but it’s meant to help promote healing, detox, and relaxation.” She smiled, “Everyone falls asleep in the baths after a while.” 

Hordak carefully climbed into the pool, being careful of his now bare feet. He normally always wore his metal shoes - they were not a part of his normal armor, they were just protection for his delicate feet. Like every clone, his toes were longer and possessed an extra joint. Where Etherians had one very large stubby big toe, he had a longer opposable toe. Knowing what he knew now about his race, about the Chilacians, he assumed that it was very useful when flying and perching but not as useful when one was stuck on the ground. 

Entrapta liked his feet. She found them fascinating. Now he just wondered why Horde Prime hadn’t altered them as well. 

On flat portions of rocks, Amethyst set down the glasses filled now with a pinkish fizzy juice next to both of them. “Our normal blueberry juice.” She said, “with Herbs added. Normally we don’t carbonate our drinks, but we have been informed that they are a favorite of Princess Entrapta.” 

“And the herbs in this one?” Hordak asked, eying the drink. 

“It’s fine, Hordak.” Entrapta said as she took the drink and took a long, deep drink. 

“Again, our herbal mixture is secret. But it helps promote healing and relaxation.” 

Hordak tentatively took a sip, trying to taste exactly what herbs were in it. It was impossible with the bubbles though. 

“Oh, and doomberries.” 

Hordak glanced up at Amethyst with a raised brow. Entrapta coughed and spat out the drink.

“Amethyst, don’t be awful.” Jade said as she approached Hordak. She had a jar and a collection of bandages in her arms. “There’s no doomberries in any of this. Blueberries, some lime, and a combination of ginger, basil, cilantro, and thyme. Just in case you’re concerned about dietary issues.” She glared at Amethyst. “Honestly, you can at least pretend to be professional.” 

Amethyst suppressed a laugh, “He was being so careful though-“ 

“And you’ve made Princess Entrapta angry.” 

Hordak looked down at Entrapta, who was indeed glowering at them both, though her face was paler than normal. 

“I apologize for my sister, Princess Entrapta.” Jade said with a bow, “She has a terrible sense of humor and no sense of tact.” She set her things down next to Hordak. “Now then.” She said to him, “let’s see those bandages.” 

“I beg your pardon?” 

“You can’t get normal bandages soaked in the hot springs.” She said, “You’ll have to have them changed anyway. If you let me change them now, I can add a salve to it to soothe the wounds and help it heal faster.” 

Hordak wanted to say that his own doctor would be able to manage the wounds, but she was back in Bright Moon, and Jade was right;He would get this bandage soaked and he’d have to have them changed anyway. He propped his arm against the rocks, “Very well.” He said, resigned. 

“I am very sorry, Princess Entrapta.” Amethyst said as she refilled Entrapta’s glass for her. “I… well he was just being so careful. It’s just juice!”

“That wasn’t very funny.” Entrapta glowered. 

“I know. I am sorry.” 

Entrapta glowered for another moment, then broke out into a smile, “Alright!” She said, then took the fresh drink and started sipping it from a curly straw that Amethyst had produced. 

“I’m guessing doomberries are a highly toxic food here.” Hordak asked Entrapta. He hadn’t heard of them. 

“It’s a rare kind of berry.” Entrapta said. “It’s supposed to make people disappear if they eat them, but I’ve not had the ability to test them so I don’t exactly know the science behind it.” She took another sip of her drink. “I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on some to test them.” 

“Interesting.” Hordak said. He had a lot of other questions about these things, but he was cut off by a low gasp from his side. 

“What did you do to yourself?” Jade whispered in a voice that would have been too low for a normal Etherian to hear. Hordak looked over to see that she had the bandages all off, and the stitched up wounds exposed. 

He realized that he himself hadn’t gotten a good look at the wounds when it happened. The skin on the already marred arm was puckered up around the stitches and dented in a few places where it seemed that the other clone had managed to gouge out a good bit of flesh. Blue scabs covered most of the skin in a tangle of jagged wounds that covered parts of his forearm, and half his upper arm. 

Entrapta frowned as she looked at it, her hair puffing out. She glanced at Hordak. “You hadn’t seen it before?”

“Last time I got a look at these wounds, that arm was covered in blood.” He admitted. 

Jade made a little clicking noise with her tongue, then took up the jar she had brought with her. “Aloe.” She said as Hordak eyed it, “It’ll soothe the pain, and help it heal faster.” 

“Is there a point to that?” He asked, “Since I’ll be getting that arm wet now anyway?”

“I’m going to cover it in waterproof bandages.” She said as she unscrewed the lid. She scooped up a good portion of a clear gel and started to apply it to the wounds with an almost featherlight touch, “Afterwards, I’ll give it a gentle rinse, and put clean bandages on it.” She continued her work. She glanced up at Hordak’s face, her eyes flicking to the bandages on his cheek and ear, “Shall I apply some to your facial wounds as well?”

“If you think it’ll help.” Entrapta answered for him. Hordak frowned, but didn’t protest. At least there were no mirrors there so he wouldn’t see the damage to his face, and judging by Jade’s method of application, it probably wouldn’t hurt. 

“Very well.” He said after a moment, 

While Jade worked, Amethyst took a strange crystal out of the basket, and set it up in the center of the grotto. She tapped it three times producing a clear ringing through the cave which gently subsided and lapsed into soft, quiet music. 

“A magical means of recording music, I presume.” Hordak asked as he watched her. 

“Sort of.” She said, “It’s enchanted to make its own music. We’ll be using it a few times today.” She smiled. “Though, if there’s a particular type of music you prefer-“ 

“This is fine.” Hordak said quickly. He doubted that they could access the kind of music he liked. 

Entrapta finished her drink and sunk down into the hot water, leaning against Hordak. “This.. is lovely.” She said softly. “Ooh, I don’t know why I didn’t do this before.” 

“Because you can’t run scientific experiments from a hot spring?” He ventured. 

Entrapta looked up at him, and gave him a soft smile. “It’s already doing wonders for you.” She said, “Your sense of humor is coming back.” 

Jade finished his arm, and went to gently remove the bandages and treat the wounds on his face. She exchanged a glance with Amethyst, who wordlessly refilled Entrapta’s glass. “I had not heard that the former Lord of the Horde had a sense of humor.” She said. 

“I don’t think he knows either.” Entrapta whispered to her with a little giggle. Hordak frowned as his ears flicked, causing Jade to quickly move her hands away from her work. 

“Sorry.” She said quickly, “Almost done here.” 

She applied the gel so gently Hordak hardly felt it, then covered the wounds and the gel in the waterproof bandages.

“Well.” She said as she packed up her things. “Please, enjoy the steam grotto. We will be nearby if you need anything.” She gave a quick bow, and then scurried off with Amethyst. 

Once they were out of sight, Entrapta snuggled into Hordak, wrapping her hair around his waist, his chest, and his legs. “What do you think so far?” She asked, “Are spas and hot springs another silly Etherian thing?”

Hordak sunk deeper into the water, relaxing against the warm, smooth stone behind in. “I am not a fan of being fussed over.” He grumbled, “But… I do like the water.” He glanced around, “The entire grotto is pleasantly warm, and-“ he took a deep, long breath, “And the humidity and steam makes it far easier to breath.” The air still wasn’t quite perfect for him, but it lacked the sharpness and chill he had grown accustomed to. 

“And… your wounds? Your ear doesn’t hurt?” 

Hordak reached up and gently rested his hand against the bandage on his ear. He pressed gently, and after a moment felt a twinge of pain. 

“Not like it did.” He said, “Aloe. Does that really work for wounds?”

“Well, I think there’s better medical things to reduce pain and encourage healing, but for you I think you just need more sleep. Your natural healing should do, right?” She leaned forward, and rested a hand on his leg. Hordak glanced around quickly, saw that the attendants were in fact a good distance away from them, then wrapped an arm around her shoulders. 

“I did not sleep well last night.” He said, “So yes, a proper night of sleep should do it. Maybe two until it’s fully healed. “ 

“That’s good.” Entrapta said dreamily as she nuzzled into him. Imp jumped onto Hordak’s lap, since the stones that he and Entrapta were sitting on were in the water far too deep for him, and leaned against him as well. 

The water wasn’t as hot as he would have liked -if it was Entrapta would be in pain - but it was very nice. The minerals and the herbs in the water did add something to it all - he wasn’t sure what, but he felt slightly dizzy from it and the water felt smoother somehow. The steam in the air gave the whole area a hazy and relaxed look, the music was calming, even if it was the same, simple tune repeating over and over and over. 

He still had no pain in his muscles, and it was a new treat to be able to enjoy any kind of hot bath without primarily seeking to either clean up, soak away the pain, or try to banish the icy cold of frozen waters from his bones. 

He was glad that he didn’t ache as he normally did, but he needed to know why. The rations were a potential reason, but perhaps the painkillers from the other day had a prolonged effect on him. 

He was going over the components of the painkillers in his mind when he dozed off against Entrapta. 

————-

Hordak wasn’t sure how much time had passed when he started to slowly awake. He was very relaxed, and the steam all around them gave the area around him a vague, unreal feeling. 

He wondered if this was what dreaming was. 

His eyes flicked as he saw movement near him, A person? Entrapta? No. Entrapta was leaning against him- he could feel her, hear her snoring gently. Imp was on his lap. Who was there? 

After a moment, his eyes were able to make out a blurry figure- long, pointed ears, glowing red eyes, a nasal cavity. 

Another clone.

Adrenaline rushed through his body and woke him up faster than he expected. HIs ears flicked back in fear as he held Imp to him with one arm and put himself between Entrapta and the- 

Not a clone?

He blinked, confused. It wasn’t a clone, it was just Jade, looking at him very confused and a little scared, and slightly flushed as she stared at him.

“... My apologies.” She said after a moment, “I didn’t mean to startle you. I just wanted to wake you. We’re ready to move onto the next activity.”

“Hordak? What’s wrong?” Entrapta was behind him, but had apparently slipped into the water when Hordak had moved as she was now wiping water out of her eyes. 

“I saw. I thought I saw…” he frowned. No. He knew he saw another clone, but …

No. No, the clones now didn’t have ears like he did. And why would a clone be here? Mystacor was protected. 

“I feel asleep.” He said, as he slowly relaxed his stance, setting a squirming imp onto the rocks. “I suppose I was confused upon waking.” He felt his ears flick back and warmed slightly at his own behaviour. Next to him, Entrapta gave a little happy squeak. Hordak turned and looked down at her, confused. 

“What?”

“Your ears did the thing again!” She said happily. “This was the best idea!” 

Hordak cleared his throat, and looked away. He could still feel his ears, but if it made Entrapta happy-

At least his ear didn’t hurt when his ears moved. He reached up and applied pressure to his bandage. It still hurt, but not nearly like it did. 

“It’s not a problem.” Jade insisted. “Most everybody falls asleep in the steam grotto, and many people get startled when they wake up.” She was staring at him intently in the eyes, which Hordak found rather disconcerting. Her expression was fixed in a foracably neutral look

“What is it?” Hordak finally demanded. 

She gave him an impassive look as she glanced over him, and then Entrapta. She finally cleared her throat before she said “Shall I fetch you and Princess Entrapta some robes now before moving on?”

Hordak was about to ask why they would need robes now, but glanced at Entrapta and saw exactly why. The thin white wraps they were wearing were soaked through, and were rendered pretty much see-through. Hordak felt his ears burn as he quickly dropped himself back, chin deep into the water, crossing his legs in a needless gesture given the opacity of the water. 

“Ah. Yes, we might need that.” Entrapta said sheepishly as she twisted her hair in front of herself.” 

Jade nodded and walked off to fetch the robes. When she was gone, Entrapta looked up at Hordak, and gave a small, suppressed squeal as she leaned in to kiss his bright blue ear. “I was so worried.” She whispered into his ear as it flicked under her lips, “I was worried the whole.. thing from the Dead Zone might have stopped your ears from moving. 

Hordak hadn’t considered that. He rose slightly from the water “I think.. I think perhaps I was just ..” He frowned as he glanced into the water, away from Entrapta, “I think perhaps I was just a bit overwhelmed.” 

Entrapta pressed herself into him, holding his head against her chest as she stroked his hair, “And that’s ok. I’m just glad you seem to be feeling better.” 

They heard a door open at the far end of the Steam Grottos. Entrapta let Hordak go and sunk back into the water, her hair twisting around her as her face flushed. He gave her a quick smile- alright, maybe he could understand why she liked seeing his ears flush and twitch like they did if she was that precious to him when she flushed, - and crossed his arms over his chest as Jade and Amethyst came up to them, each with a large, fluffy white robe, Jade acting as though nothing had happened. 

“I was able to find one your size!” Amethyst said holding up a massive robe to Hordak. She set it down on a nearby bench along with Jade’s. 

“Please make your way to the changing room. There’s fresh wraps there for you. We will be waiting on the other side to lead you to the next part of your spa experience today.” 

They started to walk away. As they turned their backs to them Entrapta lifted herself up, and got the robes with her hair. Before Jade and Amethyst were gone, she called out, “Hey, what’s the next part?” 

“Oh.” Jade said without looking back, “A herbal massage.” 


	49. Massage

“A massage is supposed to hurt, right?” Hordak asked. He and Entrapta had just entered the empty changing room, and Entrapta immediately took off her fluffy white robe and started peeling the transparent white fabric off her body. 

“Uhh.. They can.” She said, “I think it depends on the kind of massage. I don’t really know.” 

Hordak frowned as he took off his own robe and started to peel himself out of the wraps. Of course he knew what a massage was, but he had mostly seen them being parodied in the media he happened upon out in space. He had heard stories of people saying they had felt their spine crack, but it was the “good pain.” 

Hordak dealt with a lot of pain in his life, and none of it he’d be willing to call “good.” 

There was a drying rack for their wet things, and a collection of wraps next to it. Hordak hung up the wet stuff, and took a collection of fabric from the dry, and held it up to examine it. 

“This is a lot less fabric than the last one.” He noted. The wraps for the bottom were the same as before, but there was nothing for the chest. Entrapta glided over to him, naked, and picked up the other pile. 

“Hmm. I’m not surprised.” She said as she started to wrap the bottom part around her. “I suppose it’s hard to give a good massage when there’s fabric in the way.” She adjusted the fabric around her waist, then looked up at Hordak, and grinned. “Stare all you like.” She teased, “But you probably shouldn’t stare when we leave the changing room.” 

Hordak immediately looked away, feeling his ears burn suddenly. Behind him, Imp. Was snickering. “I was not staring.” He lied. True, because they were in Bright Moon they were sleeping in the night things that had been provided for them- the last thing they wanted was for someone to walk in on them naked again- so he wasn’t seeing Entrapta’s bare skin - the curve of her neck, the angle of her hips - as much as he was used to, but he certainly wasn’t staring at her. He had far more control than that! 

Entrapta giggled and came up behind him, Wrapping her arms and hair around his body as she gently kissed up his spine, “It’s ok.” She said, “Maybe we can convince Glimmer that we need a lot on our door. I doubt she’d ask too many questions.” 

Hordak felt his ears twitch, “She won’t ask many questions.” He agreed, “But she’ll know exactly-“ 

“And we’ll need a lock sooner than later.” She said, “For when you go into rut. We still haven’t figured out what we’re doing about that.” 

She had mentioned that before, briefly, but outside of thinking about the logistical pain that would be, he hadn’t really considered that he’d be going to rut in Bright Moon. His ears drooped as he realized that lock or no. 

He muttered a curse in his own language and put his hands over his ears, “they’re going to know.” He muttered, his ears bright blue. “They’re gonna know-“

“We’re adults. And trust me, they already -know-“ She nuzzled into him, “And even if they didn’t, they’d assume. Does it matter?” She pressed her forehead into his back, “Are you ashamed?” 

“No!” He said quickly. “I just… Don’t want everyone to know everything about me.” 

“That’s fair.” She said, “It’ll be fine. Just…” She squeezed him tightly, “Just remember… you’re not in the horde anymore. You’re not supposed to be all…” She frowned, unsure what else to say, “It’s not a bad thing, you know?” 

He knew. And he was comfortable around her. He was comfortable being affectionate around her, and to a much lesser extent he was used to the minor displays of affection around others. This was different though. 

“Ahh, I didn’t mean to worry you!” She said as she lifted herself up and kissed the back of his ears, “I just.. I wanted to say we’ll get a lock for our room, and then we can be a little more .. freely cozy.” 

Hordak couldn’t help but smile. That sounded nice. He wasn’t used to the lack of privacy, and while the night clothes were comfortable, he missed the casual skin to skin contact of Entrapta when they slept. He turned around, and held her to himself, nuzzling her gently at the curve of her neck. “I’d like that.” He whispered. 

“I know.” Entrapta said with a giggle. “I’d like it too.” She held him tight. “You know.” She said slowly, “I think - and I have to look this up more on the Data Pad, but I think that your species relies on contact like this. Not just romantically.” 

Hordak frowned, “oh?”

“I think it’s how you pack bond.” She kissed his earlobe, “Not confirmed yet, but just from some of the stuff we’ve already read and… experienced, that’s what I think.” 

“And you want to research this when we get back?” He asked. 

“Oh! Oh no no no. No research today. No work today.” She pulled away slightly and gave him a sly grin, “Nice try though.” She lowered herself down and grabbed their robes again, draping one playfully over Hordak’s head with her hair before wrapping her own around her. 

“You should put that on for now.” She said with a grin, “I hate to cover you up, but I know you’re far too shy-“

“I am not shy.” 

“-to go about without some kind of top on.” She grinned and pulled him towards the door. “Come on. It’s time for a massage!” 

—————

Jade and Amethyst were waiting just outside the changing rooms, just as they said they would be. Wordlessly, they led Hordak and Entrapta down the empty hallways towards another room where the music crystal was already playing it’s soothing tunes. The walls were covered in plants that trailed about, bearing heavily fragranced flowers. A shelf in the corner held several bottles of multicolored oils. Fragranced steam rose from pots in the corners, making the air comfortably humid and heavily fragranced. 

Hordak didn’t know what the smell was, but it was leaving him pleasantly dizzy. 

In the center of the room were two padded tables. They had a pillow-like extension on the head that bore a hole in the center. Hordak was led to the closest one, Entrapta to the one next to it. 

“Please lay down.” Jade said as she went to the shelf in the corner, “On your stomach, with your faces looking down through the hole in the pillow.” She glanced at Hordak, “you sit down first though, I’ll fix those bandages before we continue.” 

Entrapta took off her robe, exposing her breasts as she lay down, settling in. Hordak hesitated for a moment before he sat down, still wearing his robe. 

“You’ll need to take that off.” Amethyst said as she watched him. Hordak frowned, feeling his ears twitch. “I’ve… There’s really not a lot to these wraps-“ 

“We’re professionals.” Jade insisted as she approached with bottles of oils, “And I assure you, as good as I am, I can’t give a massage through the robes.” 

Hordak was about to retort that she hadn’t been all that professional back in the steam grottos, but he had been far more flustered than she had been, and really didn’t want to bring it up. He also didn’t want to be accused of being shy again by Entrapta, so he quickly took off the robe and passed it to Amethyst before sitting down on the table. 

Wordlessly Jade came up to him and started to cut the bandages off. The skin was strangely puckered under the bandages, but that aside, the wounds were looking a lot better. 

“These … Did I misjudge how bad this was earlier?” Jade muttered to herself, confused. 

“No.” Hordak said as he looked over the wounds. “I just heal fast. Especially if I fall asleep.” He figured when he got back to Bright Moon he could perhaps have the stitches removed. 

Jade nodded, and threw the bandages away before gently wiping the excess gel off of his arm and his face before she gestured for him to lay down. He nodded, and lay down on his stomach as he had been instructed, his ears twitching and blue as he rested his head on the headpiece. 

“Is this going to be the kind of massage that hurts?” Entrapta asked from her table. Hordak tried to glance over at her, but he couldn’t see her. He frowned, but after a moment he felt her hair wrap around his wrist, and he felt himself calm down. 

“It may.” Jade said, “Massage generally hurts more when people are tense. But I assure you, if it hurts at the beginning, you’re coming out of this more relaxed than you’ve ever felt in your lives.” 

“I very much doubt that.” Hordak muttered. The most relaxed he’d ever been in his life… It was back at the Fright Zone, before everything happened with the portal. When Horde Prime arrived seemed years and years away and the Princess alliance was an irritant at best. It was when he and Entrapta were working away, spending their days and nights together without any fear of being seperated or killed. It was having his hair stroked as he lay in her arms, wrapped in her hair. 

No. He couldn’t be more relaxed than that. 

“Oh dear.” Amethyst said, though Hordak couldn't see her, “Don’t say that to her. She’s going to take it as a challenge.” 

“I do take pride in my skills.” Jade said. He felt something cool - the oil, he figured, being poured on his back before Jade started to gently rub it into his scarred skin. He felt his ears flick down. He didn’t like being this exposed. With Entrapta it was different, but he wasn’t used to other people seeing all his scars, all his deformities on his skin. He knew that Jade had no point of reference for what his people were supposed to look like, but he didn’t like it. 

He took a deep breath. No. He wasn’t shy. He was fine.

After a moment, he could hear Entrapta. She let out a low moan, but he couldn’t tell if it was in pain or not. “Are you alright?” He asked, a slight hint of panic to his voice.

“Hordak.” She said, “I didn’t even know my neck was tense until this moment.” 

He wanted to ask what she meant, but he felt Jade’s finger tips pressing into the muscles around his neck. “What are you doing?” He demanded. 

“Your muscular system is different from ours.” She said. 

“Obviously.” 

“And that’s not a problem for me, not really.” Jade said, ignoring his comment, “I work on a lot of different people, and a lot of different races. Normally I can figure out where the right tendons are, the right muscles are… but your muscular system is just a little different than I expected.” She was feeling around his shoulder blades. “You have muscles I didn’t expect here.” 

“I would honestly be surprised that you had any expectations of my muscular system-“ 

“Well, you are relatively humanoid, so I expected a humanoid-like set of muscles. And.. ah, there we go.” He felt her trace her finger along his skin, “you’ve some extra muscles here on your back that I didn’t expect, that’s all. I think I know what I’m dealing with now.” 

“I see.” Hordak said, his ears pinning back in irritation, and what exactly-“

He didn’t get to finish his sentence. She pressed onto something on his upper back, not quite the neck, and it was suddenly like every muscle in his upper body flexed - which did hurt for a moment- and then just went entirely and totally limp. He felt himself gasp slightly, his ears falling limp in relaxation. 

“Like that.” Entrapta said dreamily. Hordak understood what she meant now. It was as though muscles he didn’t know he had, muscles he didn’t know could tense up had suddenly relaxed and he felt more the lack of tension in his body, rather than it’s presence. 

“Everyone, even every human is different.” Jade said. He felt her climb up onto the table, and sit on the back of his thighs. He was about to protest this, but she started working on some muscles around his shoulders, and any protest he might have made fell away. “But there are some basic similarities, some basic points in the muscular system that can be exploited for massage. The actual technique is, of course, secret, but-“ 

“What she means.” Amethyst said, “is that she’s very good at her job. A savant. That’s why she’s working on you. I probably wouldn’t be able to figure out your muscular system as well and as quickly as she did.” 

“Amethyst, please, you’re making me blush.” 

She continued to work down his back, working knots and the remnants of pain out of his muscles. He wondered, idly, if massage might have helped with his chronic pain before the armor was necessary, and if it would help if the pain came back.

He wasn’t paying attention exactly to what she was doing, didn’t notice her hands working down his back, and to his sides until he felt himself squirm away from her hands and half-stifle a pitched yelp. He felt his ears burn deep blue in mortification as he bit down hard on the inside of his lip. 

“...Apologies,” Jade said. She had stopped her work for just a moment, but then continued, working more with the palms of her hands than with her fingertips, “I’ll be more careful.” 

He felt Entrapta’s hair tighten around his wrist, and his muscles start to stiffen. Nobody knew about that. He didn’t want anyone to know about that. He was positive that by the end of the day these two would probably gossip and all of Mystacor-

“You know.” Amethyst said, “I’ve read that being ticklish is a result of tension.” 

“Mmhmm.” Jade said over him, working back up his back to try to get Hordak to relax more, “That’s why a lot of really serious people are ticklish.” She pressed into a part of Hordak’s back again, and he felt his muscles loosen up again, “it’s because they’re so tense all the time.” 

“I didn’t know that.” Entrapta said softly, still dazed from the massage.

“Mmmhmm. You’d be surprised.” Amethyst said, “The super serious people we get a giggle out of on these tables. Well. You won’t be. Confidentiality and all that.” 

“Excuse you?” Hordak asked. What were they talking about? 

“Confidentiality.” Jade repeated as she continued to work. We serve some of the highest ranking people in Etheria. We’d get no work at all if we went about like silly little teenagers, gossiping about every little thing that we saw or heard.” She started to work back down his back, again, being more careful and working more with her palms than with her fingertips, “No. It’s very bad form to go about talking about your clients. It’s disrespectful, and the sign of an amature.” 

Hordak felt Entrapta’s hair twist around his fingers, “I think they mean.” She said softly, so quietly that he wondered if Jade and Amethyst would even be able to hear it, “That you don’t have to worry about them talking about you.” 

Hordak didn’t respond. His ears were still bright blue, but he could feel his stomach start to unclench. The horror at having what was frankly his most embarrassing weakness discovered started to fade off. Several minutes passed, and he felt his muscles limp and relaxed again as the moment of panic faded into nothing. 

No matter what else this spa day brought, when all this was over, when Prime was defeated and he was free to do as he pleased - more or less- he was going to come back here. 

“So.” Jade said after a bit longer, “most relaxed you’ve been?” 

“.... A very close second.” He condeeded. No matter how physically relaxed he was, nothing could compare to the more carefree days with Entrapta. With luck, he’d have those again. 

  
  
  



	50. Hair

It had taken all of Hordak’s impressive will power to force himself to get up off the massage table when it was done. There had been some pain - Jade had put the real work in once she was convinced he was properly relaxed, but it hadn’t lasted long and it had left his limbs feeling relaxed and oddly weak. 

Entrapta had put it much better than he had been able to. As Amethyst helped her to her feet, she rubbed her arms and said to Hordak with half-closed eyes, “My legs feel all noodly.” 

They draped their robes over themselves as Jade and Amethyst led them out of the massage parlor and to their next destination. Hordak didn’t bother to ask what it was this time, he was far too relaxed to worry overmuch about it. and his mind for the moment was content to just allow the day to progress. Yes, he had had a few less than comfortable moments that even now made his ears twitch, but it was a testament to how good Jade and Amethyst were at their jobs that even in light of all that, he still felt calm.

They walked past some open windows far above a courtyard. Hordak drew away from the windows at first, but quickly realized that he was too high up to be seen from down below. Everyone in the courtyard seemed to be practicing their magic - casting sigils and waving their hands as he had seen Shadow Weaver do more than once. He didn’t understand magic, he didn’t trust it; he did acknowledge that it was very useful. 

He’d not have progressed in his attempts at conquering had it not been for Shadow Weaver and her magic. 

Conquering. That brought back thoughts of Horde Prime, of the ‘new’ Fright Zone, and -

Ears. Implants. Brains. Crash.

He backed away from the window. He had gone a good while without reacting like that now, and it startled him to have all those thoughts suddenly washed up again in his mind. His chest tightened slightly, but thankfully he didn’t have any pain, he didn’t start breathing funny. He leaned against the wall, and took several long, deep breaths. No. He was fine. His breathing was fine. Maybe he had just been a little thrown because he expected a physical reaction to those thoughts. 

No. He felt fine now. 

He glanced up, and realized that while he might have felt fine, he was alone in the hallway. He stood there for several moments, listening carefully before he realized that not only was he alone in the long, stretching hallway, but he was alone, in a strange place, surrounded by magicians, and save for the fluffy white housecoat, not really dressed. 

He didn’t want to be seen in the white housecoat, or in a state of undress. His ears flicked down as he quickly walked down the hallway, trying not to run because he figured that if anyone was in the closed off rooms he was passing by, his running might alert curiosity. He forced himself to slow before each closed door, listening to see if the room was occupied or not, but he didn’t hear anything. 

_ Alright _ , he told himself, _ it’s not like you can’t manage being separate from Entrapta for a few minutes. And you’ve managed worse, so this is honestly nothing to be worried about. _ If his crash landing on Etheria did anything good for him, it was to set a low point for him. If he survived that, he could survive anything. This wasn’t the whispering woods, this wasMystacor, and the moment that Entrapta noticed that he wasn’t with them, she or Jade or Amethyst would come back and find him. 

Still, he’d rather catch up on his own. 

He continued down the hallway, stopping and listening at doors as he tried to figure out where Entrapta had gone, but then stopped when the hallway split off in two directions. 

He stood still, held his breath, and listened very carefully down each hallway. He could hear things, but they were distant and it was honestly difficult to hear properly as the acoustics around him sent noise scattering in all directions. It probably wouldn’t have been a problem to human ears, and even to his it wouldn’t have caused him problems unless he was actively trying to hear something- like he was. 

He ended up just feeling dizzy. He frowned, and leaned against the walls with his ears tilted back slightly. He couldn’t believe that he had gotten lost. He had stopped for much a moment and got separated from Entrapta, and now he was lost in the halls of Mystacor until someone came and found him like he was a lost child. It was degrading. 

He heard something nearby. 

He hadn’t been paying attention, giving his ears a chance to rest, but the sound he had heard was nearby- though very soft. He thought it was a footstep at first, but if it was they had stopped when he perked up. 

His first thought was that he was being followed. He thought back to the steam grotto, remembering that he had thought for sure he had seen another clone back there for just a moment. He had brushed it off as confusion, but… 

What were the chances that a clone was here anyway? A clone with ears like his. Another thought entered his head, ignoring the fact that the clone had ears like his, and not the smooth, scarred skin of Horde Prime’s new clones. Queen Castaspella clearly hated him. He was certain that many people in Mystacor did - he was credited with killing King Micha. He didn’t necessarily think that was fair, he hadn’t killed him with his own hands, and king Micha had in fact slain several of the Horde troops before his capture. Even then Hordak had opted to send him to Beast Island instead of killing him outright. 

But still, his mind started to weave a plot, his muscles tensing up as his mind raced. 

What if Queen Castaspella had alerted Prime to his presence here. And what if Prime had sent a clone to kill him. No. No, that wouldn’t be right. The ambassador had said that- 

Right. That Prime had no interest in him. That Prime didn’t care if he lived or died.

Somehow, it was only now that that was really coming back to him. He had felt rage before at the slight, but now the actual gravity of Prime’s indifference to him was starting to weigh on his mind.

He shook his head, and looked around, his ears twitching like mad trying to hear anything he could. He stepped back the way he had come to try to reduce the odd acoustics from the other hallways. No. He couldn’t think about that now. He couldn’t think about how Prime didn’t even care enough to see him slain now. If somehow a clone had come in here with the intention to kill him- 

“There you are!” 

Hordak jumped slightly, yelping as he pressed his hands to his ears. He had been so focused on any sounds coming from the hallway that he hadn’t heard Amethyst come up behind him, and his ears had been so tense that her calling out to him had sounded far louder than it was. 

“Are you alright?” She asked as she took a step up to him. 

“Fine.” He snapped, looking down the hallway as he rubbed his ear, “I’m fine. Just..” He frowned, “I thought I heard something.” 

“Oooh, something dirty?”

Hordak turned to her, raising a brow in confusion. Amethyst shrugged, “Most of these rooms here are private meditation rooms, and sometimes people… take advantage of the privacy.” 

Hordak felt his ears flush as he turned away, “No, nothing like that.” He muttered, “It must have just been my imagination.” 

“Well, no problem.” She pointed down the hallway she had come from, “Go down the hallway, and turn left. Fifth door on your right. I have to go and run a quick errand for Jade, but I’ll meet you back there.” She glanced down the hallway that Hordak had been peering down, then looked back to Hordak, “Or… maybe I should take you there myself?”

“I’m certain I can manage.” He snapped, and strode off down the hallway. 

—————-

Hordak knocked on the fifth door on his right down the hallway Amethyst pointed out, and listened for a response. Almost immediately he heard Entrapta say, “Hordak!” And the door was pulled open by her hair and he was pulled in. 

“Where did you go!” She said as she rose herself up to his face, “I was so worried, you were there for a moment, and then you were gone, and I-“ 

Hordak set his hands on her shoulders. He knew that she had probably been more relaxed than he had been, but now he felt guilty for getting her all tense again. He wondered if he should tell her about what happened in the hallway, but then figured that there was no point because nothing had happened in the hallway. “I’m fine.” He said, “I just got distracted by the magic in the courtyard. Amethyst came back and -“ He glanced over Entrapta’s shoulder and saw Jade and Amethyst sitting next to a chair that reclined into a sink. They had bottles of various creams in their hands, and were steaming warm towels. 

“How did you get here so fast.” Hordak asked Amethyst. Amethyst and Jade exchanged a look, then Amethyst grinned as she walked over to another reclined chair and gestured for Hordak to sit down, “I’m just that good.” She said. 

“Don’t be cocky.” Jade said she turned to Hordak and gave him a quick smile, “I’m glad you’ve caught up. Please, take a seat.” 

Hordak frowned, confused as he walked up to the reclining chair, but started to relax as he sat down. It wasn’t like Entrapta hadn’t been able to show up all over the Fright Zone at all hours, or like Imp- who was currently napping on a pile of warmed towels, hadn’t been able to scurry halfway across the Fright Zone and back on a whim. 

He was being paranoid, he was even able to recognize that. Prime had no desire to kill him, and even if the people of Mystacor wanted him dead they wouldn’t get a clone to do it. They wouldn’t even be able to find another clone with ears on this planet. 

Still… He hadn’t survived this long by not being paranoid. There was a saying he had heard long, long ago, “Better safe than sorry; better paranoid than dead.” 

Regardless, he slowly leaned back into the reclined chair, and tried to relax. Amethyst put the warm towel over his head once he did. 

“So this is..?” 

“Well. It’s a hair treatment.” She said, “But… No offense to you, but Princess Entrapta is going to need two pairs of hands to do her hair, and you will take much, much less than that.” 

“This is true.” Hordak said. He had helped Entrapta brush her hair out more than once, and knew from experience that her hair wasn’t a one-person job. 

“So I’m going to help Jade with that first, and you’re going to sit and rest.” She reclined him back further, then poured him more of the juice she had provided earlier and passed it to him. “Music?” She asked. Hordak slowly took the drink and sniffed it - feeling a little foolish in doing so- before he took a sip and nodded. Amethyst smiled and took out the same gem, tapping it and letting the same music ring through the room. 

“... So what is a hair treatment anyway.” He asked as he watched them lay Entrapta down in the chair. She was reclined further back than he was, and her head rested over a padded lip to the large, deep sink that sat behind it. 

“A wash, deep conditioning mask, scalp massage, and a leave in treatment. Followed by a nice braid for our longer haired clients-“

“I’d rather not get my hair braided…” Entrapta said slowly. 

“Not even just for a few hours?” Jade asked as she set out her bottles, “Just to keep the treatment in?” 

Entrapta gave a frustrated cry as she leaned back. “Fine.” She said, “But only because I want to see how the treatment thingy feels afterwards.” 

He took a long sip of the juice and tried to relax as Jade and Amethyst started their work on the mass of Entrapta’s hair. They used a long spray nozzle to start to soak her hair, and Hordak could tell just from her facial expressions that it must have felt nice. He crossed one foot over the other and slowly felt his shoulders start to relax, his jaw start to unclench as he watched her getting her hair fussed over. He didn’t know what the point of it all was, but she seemed to like it, and that was enough for him to consider it a vital part of the spa experience. 

————

It was nearly an hour later when Amethyst left Jade’s side and went over to Hordak. Imp had woken up at some point, and jumped up on Hordak’s lap to demand that his head be scratched while Hordak lounged. The tension from the hallway had left him again - the music was calming, the juice was calming, and the smell of herbs burning somewhere in the room left him again with that faint feeling of being dizzy. All that was left was him considering how silly he had been to have gotten so uptight in the hallway. 

He hardly noticed that Jade was there until he felt the chair recline more. 

“Ok.” She said, “Your turn.” 

“It’s not necessary.” He said quickly. He had never had anyone except Entrapta play with his hair, and he wasn’t sure how it would go if he let this woman just start touching his hair. 

Entrapta didn’t have any such reservations. She was now sitting up primly as Amethyst worked to braid her hair in a complicated twisted bundle behind her back. “Oooh, you gotta try it.” She said, excitedly, her eyes shining, “If I liked it that much, you’re going to LOVE it.” 

“Normally, the more hair a person has the better the hair treatment.” Jade said softly. 

“Oh, but Hordak has feeling in his hair.” 

Hordak felt his ears twitch. That wasn’t necessarily a secret, but he just didn’t like people knowing things about him. 

“Like.. on his scalp?” Amethyst asked. 

“Nope. In his actual hair. 

“Ah.” Amethyst said as she gently tilted Hordak’s hair back into the skin, “I’ll be really careful then.” 

Hordak still had reservations until the spray of water from the nozzle she had hit his scalp. She had managed to get the water almost perfectly to his skin temperature. The stream of water massaged his scalp and ran through his hair like tiny little fingers massaging each strand. He felt water dripping down around his neck, heard Entrapta say something he couldn’t make out over the water, and felt Imp shift on his lap. He didn’t stir at any of this. In seconds he had gone from a little nervous, a little tense, to entirely and wonderfully relaxed with his eyes closed, and his mouth half open. 

When he returned to the Fright Zone, it appeared that he was starting to develop a long list of things he wanted to have added. A larger, softer bed to start, and a large bath. Steam Grottos similar to those at Mystacor, and now a basin like this. He could wash Entrapta’s hair for her, and she could do his. 

He felt like he had been spoiled in the last week or so. Like he had been introduced to comforts that he didn’t ever think were necessary before and now would probably need them forever. 

The water stopped for a moment, and Hordak almost let out a little noise of protest when he felt Jade work her hands through his hair, gently massaging shampoo into his hair and onto his scalp. He couldn’t compare it to Entrapta playing with his hair, because that was entirely different. It felt different when Entrapta touched his hair, but he didn’t know why or how - he just knew that it felt better than this. It might have had something to do with the fact that she was generally holding him, cuddling him with her hair while she played with his, but no matter. This was a very, very close second.

It took him a moment to realize that he was chirping, He had gotten so used to doing that when Entrapta was playing with his hair that he hadn’t even considered that he was now chirping in front of these two attendants. Amethyst removed her hands quickly from his head as Hordak opened his eyes slightly. 

He’d pretend he hadn’t made a sound, he decided. He’d ignore it. Hopefully, they’d ignore it too. He closed his eyes and tried to ignore his twitching ears. 

“.... Did I break him?” Amethyst asked in a slightly strained voice. Oh well, no such luck. 

Entrapta laughed nearby, “oh no.” She said, “That sound means you’re doing good. Keep it up!” 

A moment later, he felt her hands back in his hair, gently massaging. By the time she started to rinse the shampoo out, he was chirping again. He supposed that he’d suffered worse today- what was a little chirping anyway. 


	51. Dinner

“Entrapta?”

“Yes Hordak?”

“By all accounts, today has been a hard day.” 

“It has been.”

“I slept poorly. I had to face Catra and the ambassador first thing. Then I had to explain ‘hordak’ to Queen Glimmer, and yourself. Which I really did not want to do-“ 

“That… that all is a bit much for you.” 

“Then, we had to take magical transportation-“ 

“Which you hate. Could have been worse. It could have been Sea Hawk’s ship.” 

“Then I was called your ‘consort.’” 

“Well…. when we get married, you’ll officially be Prince-Consort Hordak, you know that, right?”

“And then-“ they seemed like for the moment they would ignore that, “Jokes were made about doomberries, we were BOTH seen essentially naked by Jade, I was tickled on the massage table -“

“Only for a second! By accident!” 

“And then I started chirping during the hair treatment.” 

“...When you put it like that, it does seem like it’s been an awful day for you.” 

“And yet.” Hordak leaned back in the chair and looked around. They were outside now, in a private garden. The light was fading, and twilight was starting to spread. The air was still warm, and Hordak could smell the heavy scent of the flowers around them, thick and dizzying. Distantly, the sound of some type of bird was quietly chirping before settling in for the night. His muscles were still relaxed from the massage, and his hair still damp and smelling of strawberries from the hair treatment. “And yet, I find myself more relaxed right now than I have been in a long time.” He glanced quickly at Entrapta, “Well… save certain other instances, of course.” 

He reached down, and took the thin glass filled with the clear bubbly drink that Jade had brought them. Champagne, he had been told. Alcoholic. He could manage it if he drank it very slowly. Etherian alcohol was stronger than he was used to, and he had gotten very drunk a handful of times in his long life. 

Never again. At least his species didn’t get hangovers; hangovers looked awful. 

Entrapta gave a happy sigh and leaned back in her own chair. They were still only dressed in the thin wraps and the robes- Hordak had the understanding that that was all they would be wearing for the remainder of the day- but they were alone, and unlikely to encounter anyone other than Jade. 

“I never really thought I’d like this kinda thing before.” Entrapta said, “But I really like this. I had this awful pain in my back from being hunched over all the time, but it’s gone now and- oof.” 

Her hair had been carefully braided into two twisted braids that doubled up and down and were tightly bound. Hordak thought they looked nice on her, but she kept trying to do things with her hair, causing her braid to simply twitch and jolt as it tried to move. 

“I shouldn’t have agreed to the braids.” She said, sulking. Hordak grinned and leaned forward.

“It’s only for an hour or so. For the treatment.” 

“I know.” She said. She grinned, and a moment later Hordak felt something on one of his feet. He pulled back and looked under the table to see Entrapta had kicked off the sandals that she had been given and had rested a bare foot on top of Hordak’s long, clawed ‘foot.’ He glanced up at her, confused. 

“I wanted to touch you.” She said, “So… Footsies.” 

“..Footsies?”

“Yeah. It’s when you touch your partner’s foot under the table.” 

Hordak gave an amused sigh, then lifted his other foot and gently grasped Entrapta’s foot. “Footsies.” He said in disbelief. “Etherians are weird.” 

Entrapta giggled as she felt his clawed feed gently grasp around hers, “Your feet are so cool.” She said, then wiggled her foot a little with a suppressed laugh, “Watch your claws though, they tickle.” 

He felt his ears flick and flush, but he didn’t say anything. He was being exceedingly gentle so as not to hurt Entrapta’s delicate Etherian skin, but aside from this moment, there wasn’t a creature in the universe who would say that his claws “tickled.” 

Not unless they wanted a fight. 

“This is odd.” He said as he took another drink, “Horde Prime is here-“

“No work!” Entrapta said, pointing at him with an accusing finger.

“No work.” He said, raising a hand up defensively, “But Horde Prime is here. I’m planning the biggest coup in the history of the universe, and we’re having a spa day, and I’m relaxed.” He frowned slightly as he looked around at the area, “I suspect magic.” 

Entrapta gave her giggle-snort into her drink, sloshing a bit out of the cup. “Well, this is Mystacor, so that’s possible. But-“ She pointed to the flowers, “I think these have something to do with it too.” 

Hordak raised a brow as he looked at the flowers. They had strange furry looking stems and thin leaves. The flowers were purple, and gathered in bundles. “ I had not taken any real note of the flowers.” He admitted, “Are they special?”

“Sorta.” Entrapta said, “Their smell helps calm people subtly, and I’m pretty sure they use this in their baths and incense.” 

Hordak was about to ask her if she knew the chemical makeup of the flower just so he could be sure it wasn’t something bad for him, but then he heard something just inside the balcony. He tensed up for a moment, thinking maybe it was whatever he had heard in the hallway, whatever he had seen in the baths, but no, he could clearly make out Jade’s voice. She was talking to someone he apparently hadn’t met yet.

“-and what exactly is that you’re thinking of serving up.” 

“Uh… it’s a vegetable dish. I picked one off the -“ 

“I gave you -very- clear instructions.” Jade normally had a calming tone from what Hordak had heard thus far today, but now she wielded a sharp, angry voice to some other person who worked in the spa. “Our guest is very particular about what they eat!” 

“I know! No wheat, no milk, no eggs, no white sugar. This is some grilled fish in miso, some asparagus-“

“Yes.. and what is ON the asparagus?”

“.... uh sauce?”

“HOLLANDAISE!” 

Entrapta apparently had been able to hear that last one, because she perked up and her head and turned towards the closed door, then turned back to Hordak. “What was that?” She asked. Hordak held a finger to his lips. He needed silence to hear properly. 

“You bring that back to the kitchens immediately.” 

“But-“ 

“Hollandaise is egg yolk and butter, you turnip!” 

Hordak’s ears flicked down and he shuddered in disgust as he tried to distract himself. He turned to Entrapta who was eying him carefully. 

“I think one of the kitchen staff made a mistake in picking food.” He said with a shudder, “Do you really have a sauce made from egg yolk?”

“Oh!” Entrapta said, her braids moving slightly, “Oh, that’s what I heard. Hollandaise. Yes! It’s delicious. Sometimes I’ll have tiny eggs benedict with quail eggs for breakfast, and they’ll put-“ She trailed off as she watched Hordak carefully, “Uh… You ok?” 

“Just… eggs.” He said, then shuddered, “I can’t imagine how you can eat them.” 

“.... it’s eggs?” She said, tilting her head, “I mean…. What's wrong with them? I know you can’t eat it.” 

“It’s an animal byproduct.” He said, with a shudder, “Akin to waste. Unfertilized genetic material.” 

“Ohhh.” Entrapta said, “I guess.. yeah, that makes sense.” She took a drink of her champagne, “I suppose if it could kill you, it would be an advantage to be disgusted by eggs.” Her eyes suddenly widened in fear, “Will you die if they accidentally get egg on your food?”

Hordak shook his head, “No. No, if I accidentally started eating eggs, I’d just get really sick. My body would start rejecting them before I actually died. To die, I’d have to eat a lot of eggs in a short period of time.” He shuddered again, “Which, by the way, your species puts eggs in certain types of smoothies! For protein! Why!?”

Entrapta laughed, “Not all of us.” She insisted. 

“It was a popular request in the Fright Zone!” He insisted. “Some people wanted it for-“ He waved a hand, trying to remember the phrase, “ Ah, ‘bulking up’, whatever that means.” 

“Ah.” Entrapta said. “Well, there were eggs in the kitchens, so at least I was able to make cupcakes!” 

Hordak shook his head in disbelief, “You Etherians will put those in everything… though, you’re not the only species.” 

“You ever get really sick off eating eggs?” She asked, “Accidently?”

“No. Not me. Even when I was out among other races and being a diplomat for Horde Prime, I tended to do my research, and stayed away from anything that would make me sick.” He glanced down at the twisted skin on his forearm, “it would not do for the Alpha to be seen as sickly and weak.” 

He didn’t want to think about that. He took another drink as, and after a moment, a memory came to him. 

“Though. There was one time….” 

————-

Horde Prime had been invited to an exhibit of the cultural contributions of a protected planet in the Virgo Supercluster of Galaxies. Designation Sol-Gigivi-3. The species on the planet itself were advanced enough to have something to offer culturally, but not advanced enough that the controllers of this particular galaxy- a race commonly referred to the green ones because of their greyish-green skin- wanted to risk an introduction. For now, they would watch, wait, and share the specialties of this planet with the rest of the universe. 

Horde Prime wasn’t interested in such a thing, so they passed it off to someone else. Prime Sent the invitation to his second in command with the expectation that they would represent the Horde well. Now, while Prime wasn’t interested in culture shoes, Horde Alpha was and so was DH. They had been promised a dinner showcasing some of the best the planet had to offer, and a play- a musical- about an old revolution that failed. It was probably best to show plays about failed revolutions if they wanted to stay on the good side of Horde Prime. During the dinner in which Alpha and DH had sampled most of the dishes, they had heard about the play from some of the people who had organized the event. A musical. A spectacle. Very popular planetside. 

Alpha had been sold from the start. They liked plays, and they were very excited to see a new play!

A musical? Could they skip the meal and go right to it? 

And yet, now as the play started, the sound of what they thought were trumpets started to echo through the building and Horde Alpha strained their ears to see if they couldn catch a few notes from their current location in the restrooms below the theater. 

All they could hear was DH retching. 

<<I warned you not to eat the fried stuff.>> - irritation- worry-

<< I’m going to die, T1.>> - sorrow-. DH hadn’t called them T1 for a while now, but they were distracted now. <<And you’re here, chiding me. You’re heartless.>>

<<You will not die.>> - Irritation- sympathy-concern. DH was throwing up in the sink, and Alpha was leaning against the wall. They sighed and walked up to them. They glanced at the contents in the sink, shuddered, then looked away, -relief- <<Disgusting. But it’s not blue. You didn’t eat enough to seriously hurt yourself.>> 

<<How do you know.>>

<<If you did, You’d be in a lot more pain. And the sink would be blue.>>

They gagged, and retched again, their hair falling into their eyes, sticking to their sweat covered face. Alpha had locked the door as they chased DH in, making sure nobody would see a clone in such a state of illness. Alpha sighed and took a neatly folded hand towel from a basket on the counter. They soaked it in cool water and leaned over to gently wipe off DH’s face. <<You’re a mess.>> -concern- sympathy-. 

<<rub my back?>>

<<why?>>

<<It may make me feel better?>>

Alpha sighed, and put a hand on DH’s back, rubbing between his shoulders. <<I did warn you>> - sympathy-

They made a strange, high pitched noise in the back of their throat, akin to a whine. <<What sick species puts egg on fowl.>> They whimpered as they spat into the sink. <<Might as well wrap fetus’ around a body and roast it.>>

<<They use them as a binding agent in a lot of the foods.>> - disgust- <<I did my research>> - pride- <<I told you to do research->> -Irritation-

<< I am sorry.>> -regret- 

<<And when it was clear that you did not, you should have listened to me.>>

They retched, spat, then turned on the tap, letting the water spill into the sink. They cupped some water in their hands, and took a drink.

<<come on.>> -resignation- <<Let us get you back to the room assigned to us. You’ll feel better if you lay down. Maybe drink some citric acid to help settle your stomach.>> 

They looked up at Alpha as they spat into the sink. <<I am sorry I ruined the play for you.>> -regret-<<I know you were looking forward to it>>

Alpha removed his hand from DH’s back, and waved it dismissively, - deception- <<it is nothing. A trifling matter. I was only going because->>

<<because you think I didn’t notice your ears when the green ones were talking about the play?>> - amusement- << You were excited. I am sorry.>> -Regret-

Alpha’s ears flicked down and burned with an uncharacterized flushing. While most clones could read their ears, only DH actually paid attention to anything when they weren’t communicating directly with one another. It didn’t matter, they supposed they did the same. Alpha had done their best to express no interest in the plays, and to ask as little questions as possible. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing to enjoy them, and to enjoy musicals, not really. It was just seen as… unusual. 

It was strange. Much like DH was considered strange. Well, they at least weren’t ostracised anymore; they were Alpha’s right hand now and that offered some respect, and some protection.

They sighed, their ears flicking down. -disappointment- << I am sure I’ll have the opportunity to see it in the future.>> They said. 

<< if I ever hear of it again, I will find a way to get tickets. I will get you to see it.>>

-Amusement- <<not necessary…. But I thank you for the sentiment.>>

DH rinsed their mouth out again, and slowly stood up, holding onto the counter as though they were afraid the gravity might give out, then doubled over, retching again. Alpha sighed and went back over to them, rubbing between their shoulder blades. It would be a long evening. 

————-

“.... Were you and DH close?” Entrapta asked. “And that other one you asked for earlier, uh…70H… something?”

“Oh.” Hordak grinned at her, “They are one in the same. DH choose that name for themselves. It was a play on the sounds of the numbers in Universal Common… which is basically the same at Etherian, more or less.” He took a drink, “Universal Common seems to be the root language for basic Etherian, but of course, with a millennia of isolation, the two languages evolved differently. 

Entrapta odded, then glanced down at her drink. “... You were really close with them?”

“... I was.” He said. He wouldn’t have called DH his friend just because you didn’t really have friends in the Horde. You had people you worked very well with, and people you did not. Looking back now, with all the experiences he’d developed… 

He’d call him a friend. Even family. 

“... Would they… “ She shook her head, “no, nevermind. “

Hordak frowned, and tilted his head at her, “Go ahead.” He said. 

“... Would they still be alive?” She asked. “I mean, what you told me about the life spans of clones…”

“.... I don’t know.” Hordak said. He felt his ears droop. “They might have been sent off like I was if they went against Prime. Maybe they were clever and managed to stay alive. Maybe they died in combat. Maybe they got married off.” He shrugged, “I’d like to know.” 

The door opened off to the side, and Jade wheeled out food for them both. There was a very small, berry topped salad for Hordak who had insisted he didn’t need a full meal, and tiny pies for Entrapta. Amethyst set another bottle of champagne out - Hordak hadn’t noticed how much they had drank, and decided it was better not to drink anymore - and then bowed. 

“If you need anything else.” She said, “Please ring this bell.” She put a bell on the table. “It’ll ring a bell inside for me.” She gave them a smile, and left them alone. 

“So!” Entrapta said, taking a big bite of what smelled like some kind of meat pie, “I wanna hear more about DH! Tell me about them! Only good stories!” 

———————

Deep inside Mystacor, Jade entered a dark room lit by candles. Amethyst was sitting at a table, eating a bowl of some kind of soup. 

“They’re settled in?” She asked as Jade sat down at the table. Jade nodded. Amethyst smiled, and pushed a second bowl to her. 

“Good. Everything is going well, I’d say.” 

Jade nodded, and went to eat some of her soup. She paused, and set the spoon down. 

“Did you notice?” She asked quietly. 

Amethyst swallowed her food, and nodded quietly, “If it’s what I think you’re going to say, then yes.” 

Jade nodded, took a deep breath, then looked at Amethyst. 

“He has NO RIGHT.” She hissed, “To be that adorable.” 

Amethyst broke into a grin, “I know!” She said, “Did you see his ears wiggling all over the place?! And they turn blue!” 

“And he’s frickin’ ticklish! Hordak! That is Hordak from the Fright zone, Right?”

“.... I suppose it’s Princess Entrapta’s Hordak now.” Amethyst said with a grin, “They’re super sweet together! Do you see how his expression melts when he’s around her? Or how she’s ALWAYS holding onto his hand with her hair!” 

“They’re too sweet.” Jade said, “Honestly, the hardest part of this whole thing is staying professional here.” 

“I’m going to do his hands and feet later.” Amethyst said, “And I swear, If he has toe-beans, I won’t be able to hold it together.” 

“You have to act professional, at least!”

“No promises! It’s too cute!” 

Jade grinned, nodded, took a deep breath, then took a bite of her food. She chewed, swallowed, then set her spoon down again. 

“.... Do you think it’s going to be ok?” She asked, “The other thing?”

Amethyst nodded with an almost feral grin, “Don’t worry. I got this. We do this right, they’ll never even notice.” 


	52. Heavy

Hordak was taking great pains to make sure he walked slowly and steadily down the hallway. Imp had been on his shoulder, but was now flying next to him, watching Hordak carefully. Maybe he had consumed too much of that champagne which left him feeling disoriented. Maybe the smell of those flowers, and the constant breathing in of the incense all day was starting to get to his head. 

Maybe this was just a combination of the two. Well, no matter. Mystacor was protected, and very few people even knew he was here. He had Entrapta at his side, and she was still being very careful with what they talked about to ensure that he didn’t start thinking about the work he had to do. They were here as guests of Queen Glimmer and being taken care of by Queen Castaspella.

It was fine. 

Hordak and Entrapta followed Jade to the next room that had been prepared for them. A meditation room, apparently.

“Most people feel that they need to lay down after a nice meal, and need a chance to just sit and be still.” She explained as she led them to the room, “So we take this opportunity to offer up a meditation session. 

“I’ve never meditated before.” Entrapta said quickly, “Is it hard?”

Jade smiled, and shook her head, “Not at all. There’s incense and music playing, and the chairs you’ll be sitting in are very comfortable. Take a nap if you like. The whole thing is designed to help give you some quiet time in your head.

Hordak frowned as he walked very carefully down the hall.The idea of quiet time in his head didn't seem like something he wanted. It seemed like the opposite of something that would keep him calm. That sounded like something that could make his thoughts go spinning out of control.

“I am not accustomed to my head being silent.” He said, 

“If you have trouble with it, just listen to the music.” Jade said, “It’s designed to help quiet the mind, and pull you into a trancelike state.” 

“Ah.” Hordak said, not liking that much more, “It's magic then?”

“No, just really relaxing.” 

They were led to a large room with two reclining chairs. As soon as Hordak stepped in he was hit with the smell of incense. Music was already playing from a series of crystals that had been set up around the room. 

“Can I get my hair unbraided before this?” Entrapta asked. Jade reached out, and felt the tightly braided locks pensively. 

“Soon.” She promised, “It’s almost dry. After this you should be good. Though… if you really want I’ll take it down now?”

Entrapta screwed up her face as though torn, then sighed, “No.” she said, “I wanna see what the hair treatment does.” 

Jade smiled, “I’m glad.” She said, clasping her hands behind her back, “In truth, I am excited to see how the treatment works for someone with hair as specialized as yours.” She gestured to the chairs, “Please, make yourselves comfortable.” 

Hordak sat in one chair and reclined back while Entrapta sat in the chair next to him. Imp sat on Hordak’s lap and reclined back against his stomach, his little claws clasped over his belly. Jade went around and pulled some purple blinds down on the windows that dulled the light and cast a calming purple light through the room. 

“Would you like anything before I leave you to it?” She asked, “Eye masks? A cool compress? Anything to drink?”

Hordak shook his head, already feeling himself sink into the chair. His eyes were closed, his hands draped over the edges. 

“I think we’re good.” Entrapta said, a laugh to her voice. Hordak felt his ears twitch as he wondered exactly why she seemed to be laughing at him, but then he felt her fingertips reach out and link around his.

“Very well.” Jade said, “I’ll be nearby. Please, just relax, and I’ll be back to fetch you.”

Hordak heard the door close, and then the room had this oddly muffled quality about it, the music floating through the room but not echoing off the walls. He didn’t think he’d fall asleep - he had slept in the steam grotto, but he could already feel himself starting to daze out.

“This is kinda nice.” Entrapta said softly. “Though… I’d rather have my data pad with me to-“ 

“No work.” Hordak said, his voice hardly over a whisper. If she wanted to chide him, he could chide her too!

“I know.” Entrapta said with a giggle. She closed her hand over his fingers. He lifted his other hand to rest it on top of Imp’s head. The little creature already seemed to be asleep, but they always slept more than Hordak did anyway. 

A few moments passed, and he could hear Entrapta gently snoring. He took Jade’s advice, and listened to the repetitive, soft music coming from the crystals, which lulled him into a calming trance. 

=============

An unknown time later, he heard something that was not the music. It took him a while after he had heard it to realize that it was something he should pay attention to, and it took him a bit of time after that to manage to get his eyes to open a crack- his eyes simply didn’t want to open, and it felt like a massive test of his physical strength and will to get them to obey. 

He opened his eyes just in time to see another clone slip from the room out of the door. 

At first, he didn’t pay attention to what he saw. It was as though he saw it, but wasn’t really seeing it. Like his eyes weren’t relaying the information to his brain in the proper time. It took several minutes for him to realize what he had seen. 

Hallucinations? A result of being a little tipsy? The strange flowers that were burning around him? He wasn’t sure. He strained his ears to hear something, but all he could hear was the music, and Entrapta and Imp snoring. He thought he heard an odd hiss somewhere, but he couldn’t place it. 

_ ‘You need to get up _ ’ a part of him commanded from the back of his head. ‘ _ You need to get up and figure out what that was.’  _

He didn’t want to get up. His ears flicked in irritation, but that was when he realized there was a real problem. 

He felt his ears flick without feeling them. It was an odd sensation, like he could feel the muscles around his ears move, and he could feel them move, but he couldn’t feel them. 

Yes. Something was wrong. His mind was fuzzy, but he was blaming those flowers at this point. He didn’t know what was in them, and he’d been inhaling the fumes from them all day. 

_ ‘You need to get up,’  _ that distant part of him said again, ‘ _ Clone or no, something is wrong. You need to get out of this room and get some fresh air. Tell Jade or Amethyst that something is wrong.’  _

Alright. He had to get up. As comfortable as he was, he had to get up.

He couldn’t.

His body felt so damn heavy, like he was pressed against the chair with the force of a rocket breaking from a planet’s gravity. He felt his ears flick again. He managed to look down at his hand, and after a moment he was at least able to make his index and middle finger flick, and got his arm to twitch. 

Alright. Moving was out of the question. Could he call for help? Maybe wake Entrapta? He took a deep breath and tried to say something, but it was almost as though he couldn’t force out enough air to have his voice sound out. His lips and tongue moved, and he felt like he was speaking, but there was nothing coming out of his mouth. 

In sleep, Entrapta still had his other hand in hers. He tried to move his hand, to flick his fingers and get her attention but she seemed unresponsive. 

The sensible voice in his head chided him,  _ ‘Idiot. Breathing in fumes all day when you didn’t know what they were.’  _

He stopped trying to move for the moment, and relaxed against the chair. He’d be fine, he was sure. Someone would be back soon and help him at worst. At best he’d manage to pull himself out of this. At the very least, he had time to do that. He’d keep his eyes open, and manage to pull himself out of this stupor. 

He heard something. The dull creak of the door opening. At first he thought it was the clone again, which wouldn’t have been good by any stretch, but at least he’d know he wasn’t going crazy and hallucinating clones running around Mystacor. 

But it wasn’t a clone. There was someone entering the room who he had never seen before. She wore a white uniform much like Jade and Amethyst, but she had short brown hair. She snuck in quietly, hands behind her back, looked around the room and froze when she saw Hordak’s eyes open. 

Then, after a moment, she stepped in, the soft part of their slipper like shoes hitting against the floor like a whisper. Hordak realized instantly that that was what he heard back when he got lost in the hallway. This person had been following him back then!

She closed the door behind her. Hordak heard the tumble of a lock fall into place. 

“Not getting up?” She asked. Hordak realized that while they hadn’t seen this person before, they had heard the voice before. This was the ‘turnip’ that Jade had chastised earlier. He tried to move, tried to say something, but only managed to mouth incomprehensible words. 

She grinned, and took a step forward. She let her eyes flick to the sleeping Entrapta, then back to Hordak. 

“I thought you’d be fast asleep by now.” She muttered, “But no matter. It doesn’t look like you can’t stop this anyway.” She approached Hordak, and brought her hands out from behind her back. 

A knife. A common kitchen knife. There was an absurdity to that which in his dazed state Hordak was able to appreciate. After everything he’d done, everything he’d been through. 

A kitchen knife. 

He desperately tried to move his other hand to wake Entrapta again. It occurred to him that this person might kill them both. 

Entrapta wasn’t responding. He could hear her breathing, but she wasn’t responding. Imp was sound asleep on his lap. 

No. 

She came up to his side, leaned in, pressed her hand against his chest. 

He heard something outside the door. Footsteps? He wanted to call out for help, but he couldn’t. 

She took the knife, and lifted it to his throat, letting the point rest against his skin for a moment. She looked at him with this horrific look of rage in her eyes which were framed by unfallen tears. 

“For King Micah.” She finally said. 

The door burst open; the lock shattered; the room shook. The woman with the knife at his throat was pulled from him - the otherwise deadly strike leaving only a quick scratch against his neck. He couldn’t feel the scratch, but oddly he could feel the blood beading up. He strained to focus his eyes, and looked towards the door. 

The woman was on her knees, bound by magical energy. She struggled and squirmed to get free, but to no avail. 

“It’s Hordak!” She cried out, the tears falling from her cheek. “How could you protect him!?”

“Because it’s my duty.” Amethyst said, holding her hands out to keep the smaller woman bound. “And I’m very good at my job.” She shifted her hands, and pressed her up against the wall, “But I did fail, to a point. I was supposed to make sure these two were relaxed, They weren’t to be disturbed, and -“ She paused, and sniffed the air. Her eyes widened in fear. She turned and made a complicated hand gesture, pushing the short-haired woman out of the room and binding her against the wall in the hallway before making another gesture at the windows, causing them to shatter and causing fresh air to enter the room. 

“Jade!” She yelled as she went up to Entrapta, “I need help here!” She looked at Hordak. “Can you speak?” When Hordak didn’t respond, she asked, “Can you blink?”

He blinked. 

“I’m getting Princess Entrapta out first. I’ll be back for you.” She lifted up Entrapta, and carried her out of the room just as Jade got to the doorway, looking panicked. She glanced at the woman bound to the wall, then in at Hordak. She rushed in, picked up Imp and cradled him in one arm, then attempted to lift Hordak up. He tried to help, tried to support his own weight, but he felt so heavy all over. He felt so confused. 

Amethyst was back in the room in a moment, and helped get Hordak out of the chair, and out of the room. 

==========

They were brought to another, nearby room and deposited in much less comfortable chairs. Windows were opened and incense was quickly doused. Jade was making a pot of tea with magically heated water. Amethyst had apparently taken the woman with the short hair away, and hadn’t returned back yet. 

Hordak was still trying to move his limbs of his own free will. Entrapta hadn’t moved yet, and nor had Imp. He needed to check on them. He needed to see if they were ok. 

Jade came over to him with a cup of steaming tea. “Drink this.” She said, holding it up to his lips. He pressed his lips together, not wanting to have any other strange teas or herbs put into him. 

Jade sighed, “It’s to help.” She said, “It should counteract the drugs that got put into your system. It’ll help you move faster.” 

Hordak resisted for another moment, then took a long sip of the bitter tea. Jade sat next to him, and watched him carefully, occasionally pinching his fingertips. The first time she did that, he was concerned to realize that he couldn’t quite feel it. 

A few more sips and a little more waiting, and he could feel it. He tried to speak, but ended up choking on his own saliva for a moment before he cleared his throat enough to mutter very softly, “Entrapta.” 

“Asleep.” Jade said. “You’ve been drugged.” 

“You.” He muttered. “The flowers.” 

“Yes, the flowers. But not me. The oils we diffuse into the air are a very low concentration of the flower extract, meant only to help calm people.” She frowned as she held the mug up to his lips again, “The diffuser in your room had been tampered with. I don’t know how strong it was, but for Amethyst to be able to smell it like that? I’m guessing 50% pure.” She took the cup away from his lips and looked into his eyes before rolling her own. “Ugh.. this would be easier if you actually had pupils.” She muttered. “But to put that into perspective, we normally only use 5% at most.” She set the cup down on a table next to him. “Can you move?”

Hordak tried to move his hand, and this time it rose up slowly and still shaking into the air. “That’s good.” Jade said. She helped Hordak up to a proper sitting position, “Do you think you can drink the rest on your own?”

He managed a grunt that could have been yes, then looked over to Entrapta again, “Entrapta-“ 

“I’m not going to force tea down her throat.” Jade said, “She and your pet have fresh air. That’s all they need for now.” She frowned as she looked at her, “I shouldn’t have brought you guys so much champagne. Maybe it wouldn’t have affected you so badly if I hadn’t…” 

Hordak’s head was still fuzzy, and he had trouble thinking. He sat up and slowly drank the rest of the bitter tea in silence until Entrapta started to stir. In a moment, Jade was at her side with a cup of tea. 

“Princess Entrapta.” She said as she held the cup to her lips, “Please drink this.” 

Entrapta managed to muttere a ‘where’, then looked to the side and saw Hordak. 

“I’m fine.” He assured her, “Drink the tea.” 

She drank the tea that Jade offered to, her face twisting up at the bitter flavor. Jade pressed on her fingertips, asking if Entrapta could feel anything until at last, Entrapta nodded that yes, she could feel the pinching.

Entrapta was just sitting up and drinking the tea herself when Amethyst came back, looking irritated. 

“Well?” Jade asked, “What’s happened?”

“I would like to know that as well.” Hordak said, the anger started to enter his voice as his mind slowly started clear. “I would like an explanation.”

Amethyst sighed, and sat down on the counter on the other end of the room. “Fine.” She said, “You weren't’ supposed to know anything, but fine. I guess it’s too late now.” She looked over at Jade, “Mission failed.” 

“They’re alive. I’d say that’s not a failure.” 

“That’s the bare minimum.” Amethyst said with a sigh. She turned to Hordak and Entrapta, and shook her head. “Alright.” She said, “I’ll tell you what happened.” 

She leaned back against the wall, frowning, “Queen Castaspella got a message from Queen Glimmer earlier this morning.” She said, “She wasn’t exactly in a private location, and Queen Glimmer’s voice…. tends to carry. Queen Castaspella and I went to a private location, but -“

“... Why were you with her?” Hordak asked. 

“Oh.” Jade said as she prepared more tea, “Amethyst… well, she’s trained as a spa attendant, technically, but she’s not actually an attendant. She has magical capabilities far beyond my own, and was chosen to join Queen Castaspella’s personal guard. 

Amethyst beamed, “Which is why Jade has been doing the heavy lifting, and -“

“And why Amethyst can’t seem to keep it professional.” She frowned at her sister, “Even though I keep telling her to at least pretend-“ 

Amethyst waved her hand dismissively at Jade, “Anyway.” She said, “Queen Castaspella was asked - begged by Queen Glimmer- to provide a relaxing spa day for two of her friends. Then mentioned that it was Princess Entrapta, and her boyfriend, Hordak. Which…” She grinned at Hordak, “You should have seen Queen Castaspella’s face. Though, I suppose I was pretty shocked too. I mean, Hordak? Lord Hordak of the Fright Zone? Dating Princess Entrapta and being sent to us for a spa day?” She raised a brow, “You have to admit, that’s a bit strange.” 

Hordak nodded, his ears flicking and burning blue, but he didn’t interrupt. 

“Anyway… After Queen Castaspella agreed to help Queen Glimmer, I heard someone scurry away into one of the servant passages.”

“A lot of people in Mystacor don’t like you.” Jade said, “Because of King Micah.” 

“I see.” Hordak said. He took the fresh cup of tea that Jade offered and started to sip it. His head was feeling a lot more clear now at least. “And… You two have no such issues?”

Jade and Amethyst exchanged a look. Amethyst cleared her voice. “I’ve… Well, as a member of the Queen’s guard, I’m sure that I’ve done things that people would hate me for too.” She glanced aside, “It was war. King Micah went out into battle. I’m sure if he had the chance, he would have killed you too.” 

“I didn’t necessarily kill him.” Hordak commented, “I just… exiled him somewhere he couldn’t cause me any more problems.” 

“Oh?”

“Beast Island.” Hordak said. Jade and Amethyst exchanged looks before Jade went back to preparing a tiny cup of tea for Imp who had started to stir on what appeared to be a cat bed nearby. 

“Well…” Amethyst continued, “We were worried about a plot to have you, and perhaps even Princess Entrapta assassinated. We wondered if we should tell Queen Glimmer not to come, but then figured we could use this as a chance to draw out anyone who would act on their own desires like that because…” She frowned, “Well… King Micah had a lot of admirers, and not all of them liked Queen Angelia. A lot of them blamed her as much as they did you for his death, and there had been more than one thwarted attempt on her life, but nobody was ever caught. We figured maybe where this visit was so sudden we could use that to find who it was.”

“I see.” Hordak said, frowning. He figured if he had representatives of a kingdom he made an alliance with visiting the Fright Zone, and one of his troops tried to assassinate them, he’d be rather upset with that. 

“So, I had my task. Find the would be assassins and bring them to justice. Thankfully, I had some training as a spa attendant, so I got Jade to help. This way I could be nearby and keep an eye on things without disturbing your relaxation.” She crossed her arms and frowned, “Ideally, I would have had this all fixed, and you’d not have noticed a thing.” 

“What happened.” Entrapta finally asked. Hordak realized she had been asleep through the whole thing, and simply woke up feeling weird in this room. 

“Well, we needed to set a trap, without you guys actually being in danger.” She said, “So we enlisted some help, and tried to draw the assassin off throughout the day. It worked enough to keep you two safe, but not enough to get the assassin to make a move.” 

“The meditation room was supposed to be the trap that worked.” Jade said. 

“Right.” Amethyst said, “We tried to make it seem like a perfect opportunity, but draw the assassin to another meditation room and get them to make a move there.” She shrugged, “But … clearly that didn’t work. I don’t know how we messed up yet, but the assassin knew exactly which room you were in. They altered the amount of oil in the diffusers, and turned them up high.. which is what made you-“ She pointed at Hordak, “Go all weird, and what made everyone else just pass out.

Jade passed Imp his tiny cup of tea. He sniffed it and screeched, pushing it away. 

“Drink it.” Hordak ordered. Imp gave a pitiful whimper, but took the cup and started to sip it. 

“Anyway.” Amethyst said, “I realized that the trap hadn’t worked, went to check on you and Princess Entrapta and…” She shrugged, “Well, at least I got there on time.” 

Hordak frowned as he drank more of the tea. “What else is in that diffuser?” he asked. 

“... Nothing?” Jade said, “Water? It’s just the plant extract.”

“Do you know the chemical makeup of it?” 

“.. I’m sure I could get it.” She said, “Why?”

Hordak leaned forward, “I’ve been seeing things all day.” He muttered. Entrapta gave him a sharp look, and he felt his ears flick down, “I didn’t think it was a big deal at first.” He said, “I only saw it twice. Once in the Steam Grotto, and then just before that woman came into the meditation room.” He glanced away from her, “I wasn’t hiding anything, I just didn’t think it was a concern at first.” 

“What did you see?” Entrapta asked. She only asked technically, he could tell from her tone of voice that there was no avoiding the question. 

“I thought.. I thought I saw another clone.” He said, frowning. Maybe it had just been the drugs messing with his mind, and everything that had been spinning in his head causing hallucinations, “But. It wouldn’t be a clone, because they still had ears. And how would they get to Mystacor? And Horde Prime isn’t even-“ 

The door slammed open. Another clone entered the room almost frantically. 

No. Not another clone. Another Hordak. They had the same hair, the same darkened eyes, and they were even wearing the same robes. 

“I think the assassin caught on.” Hordak heard the clone say in his voice, “I was keeping an eye on them, and they were following but-“ they cut themselves off as they looked at the very confused Hordak and Entrapta, staring at them. 

“Oh.” 

“Entrapta.” Hordak said softly, “Do you see that? Or am I hallucinating.” 

“If you are, I am too.” 

“Yeah.” Amethyst said in a bored tone to the other Hordak, “Show’s over. We caught the assassin, but operation ‘calm and quiet spa day’ is a failure.” 

“... What is this.” Hordak hissed, his ears pinned back in anger. The clone looking at him mimicked the gesture, then shimmered oddly for a moment before seeming to shrink before taking on the form of Entrapta, her hair out and twisting around her, then to Amethyst, then Jade, and then finally to the form of a slender, blonde haired lizard like creature. 

“So sorry to have startled you.” They said, “Allow me to Introduce myself.” They bowed deeply towards Hordak and Entrapta. 

“Double Trouble. It’s a pleasure.” 


	53. Double Trouble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Art in this picture as well! Last one from myself, first one from 
> 
> https://instagram.com/ararouge
> 
> They do a ton of cute she-ra fanart! Check ‘em out!

Double Trouble grinned at Hordak and Entrapta as they watched them in silence for a moment, still seemingly confused. 

“What?” They said with a grin, “Speechless? I know.” They went up between their chairs and sat on the arm of Hordak’s, “I’m just that impressive.” They gave a little laugh.

“A shapeshifter.” Hordak finally said. On the one hand, he felt like with everything he’d seen today that he should have suspected such a thing, but on the other, he had no reason to consider a shapeshifter. 

“Oh, sweetie!” Double Trouble said, leaning on Hordak slightly causing him to shift away in his chair, “I’m more than a Shapeshifter, I’m an actor.” They lifted their hand up dramatically, gesturing to an unseek audience, “A master of my craft! A keen observer of people.” They gave a low chuckle, “The whole shapeshifting thing is just one of my many talents.”

“You realize that you just called Lord Hodak, ‘sweetie’ right DT?” Amethyst said with a grin. 

DT rolled their eyes and leaned back against the chair, “What’s he gonna do, send me to beast island? Murder me right here?” They turned and grinned at Hordak, “You’re not gonna hurt little old me, are you?”

“I am not.” Hordak said after a moment. He wanted to tell this creature that he’d face punishment for this breach of conduct, but he had no say, and no power here, so instead, he simply said with his ears flicking in irritation, “But I would rather not be called. ‘Sweetie’.”

“Ahh, that’s fair.” DT said. They propped their knee up and wrapped their arms around their leg as they rested their head on their knee, “Would you prefer Prince-Consort then?”

“.... Excuse you?”

“He only gets that title when he and Princess Entrapta marry.” Jade said as she fed Imp his tea. 

“Excuse you, what?” Hordak turned to Jade suddenly, feeling his ears flush, “I did not agree to such a title.” 

“Well… you don’t really get to choose.” She responded. 

“Should I just call you ‘consort’ until then?” DT asked in their sweetest voice, their pupils blinking

Hordak gave a heavy sigh, “Just… Just Hordak is fine.” He said. He had to remember that this Double Trouble had been involved in a plan to stop an assassination plot. He should at least try to be polite. 

“Ooooh!” DT said, leaning forward and resting their hand on his shoulder, “So informal! I feel so special.” 

He should try to be polite. That might be hard though. 

“.... wait.” Entrapta said softly, sitting up a little in her chair. “Did you… Did you guys just tell us that someone tried…” Her eyes narrowed, her hair strained against the bindings of the braid work , “That someone Tried to KILL HORDAK?”

Clearly, the fumes that she had inhaled had left her head cloudy. They were apparently starting to fade off. 

“Y… yes?” Amethyst said carefully, “But I stopped it? We stopped it!” 

“You never told us?” She demanded. 

“Well, we were instructed to make sure you relaxed.” 

“If I knew I’d never have let you braid up my hair, I would have kept it down. I wouldn’t have fallen asleep in the steam grottos.” She turned to Hordak, “When Jade woke you up that time, you were protecting me and Imp! You knew that something was wrong.” 

“Oh.. Oh sweetie- Princess Entrapta, that wasn’t Jade, that was just me.” They gave a little grin, uncrossed their legs, and quickly shifted back into Hordak. “I needed to get a good look at my model,” They explained in Hordak’s voice, “If I was to trick any would be assassins.” 

“... you were spying on us?” Entrapta asked. 

They shifted back to their normal form, “No no, not spying! I mean, I could have, but I wasn’t! Like I said, I just needed to get a good view of Hordak’s face, so I could look just like him.” They glanced at Hordak and gave them a wink, “And lucky me, I got MORE than enough reference material.” 

Hordak felt his ears flick and burn as he looked away. DT gave a quick laugh. 

“Like that!” They said, Hordak looked back and they had shifted only their ears to look like Hordak’s: they were flicked down, and blue. “I had no idea your ears were so emotive. I mean, You don’t make that many public appearances, and I guess when you do your ears are locked in what I think is ‘pissed off’ mode?” They pinned their ears back, signaling irritation. “They’re like a cat’s tail, just more specific, I think… and Involuntary, I’d guess.”

“And why would you guess that.” Hordak demanded. 

“Because you’re still doing it, even though I just pointed it out. Most people are self-conscious when I point out some little tick they have, and they stop doing it, or do it differently for a little.”

Hordak was about to respond, but the door suddenly slammed open. Glimmer was standing in the doorway, pale faced, looking around frantically. She looked from the still angry looked Entrapta, to Hordak with DT next to him, then to Hordak’s neck. 

“Oh shit.” She said, her voice quiet and scared, “They hurt you.” 

Hordak frowned, and reached up to his neck in confusion. He felt the dried blood on the center of his neck, and rubbed it away. 

“It doesn’t hurt.”

“I’m so sorry!” She said, “I had no idea, Aunt Castaspella didn’t tell me she had me knitting all day long and didn’t say a word and then she-“ She pointed to Amethyst- “Came and told her that they caught someone and THEN she told me, probably because she knew that you’d tell me anyway, and I came here after I yelled at her a little and I was so worried and I’m so sorry and I PROMISE I HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS.”

Hordak blinked at her, waiting for her to finish her tirade before he interjected. 

“Why would I think you had anything to do with it?” 

“...Because King Micah was her father.” Entrapta said darkly.

Glimmer went over to Entrapta’s side, and leaned on the arm of her chair, “Entrapta, I promise I had nothing to do with this.” 

“But you just happened to suddenly come around to the idea of me and Hordak, and just happened to come up with the idea to send Hordak and I to Mystacor, after you’ve been at me for so long to-“ 

“Entrapta?” Hordak said, both amused at Entrapta for thinking like that, and also feeling maybe a little bit touched by the rage she was showing because he was a little hurt. “If Glimmer wanted me dead, there’s easier ways to do it than sending us to Mystacor and getting a random assassin to try to do the job.” He glanced at Amethyst, “Even if she wanted it to look like an accident, I imagine that Queen Castaspella wouldn’t have an issue with it, and Amethyst wouldn’t have been sent to keep an eye on us.” 

Entrapta looked from Glimmer, to Hordak, then back to Glimmer. “You… It wasn’t you?” 

“The woman was an old…. friend-“ She quickly glanced at Glimmer, then away, “Of Kind Micah’s.” She gave Hordak a meaningful look behind Glimmer’s back. “Back when he was still living at Mystacor. I think she took personal exception to his death.”

Entrapta looked down at her lap, then up at Glimmer. “I… I’m sorry.” She said, “I shouldn’t have.” 

“No, it’s ok.” Glimmer said, “I’ve… I’ve been a real pain lately. I know.” She sniffled, “Just.. this is all so hard..” She looked away, then looked over at Hordak. “You… You’re sure you’re fine?”

“I’m a little dizzy from the fumes, but as far as assassination attempts go, this was the most comfortable. Good food, relaxing atmosphere, the on-site accommodations were excellent. The assassin herself was a little mediocre. Method of assassination: a kitchen knife, so that was a tad boring, but the rescue at the end was relatively dramatic. As far as assassination attempts go, this wasn’t bad.” Everyone looked at him blankly for a moment before he sighed and said, “I was the second-in-command to the ruler of the known universe. I’ve seen my fair share of assassination attempts. This one gets in the top 5 for the accommodations though.”

“So… you’re not angry?”

“Being drugged was irritating, but everyone seems fine.” He glanced over at Imp, who was now sipping the bitter tea from his own tiny cup. “So, not particularly.”

There was another long moment of silence before DT finally asked, “What’s your number 1 assassination attempt though.” 

“It was in the middle of a musical in the Grand Theater of the Unified Hecatoncheires Galaxy. In this particular play, the main character uses a small but powerful laser to kill herself at the crescendo of the finale, except this time the laser was real, not a fake, and she aimed for me. She missed.” He gave Entrapta a small smirk, “Of all the ways to go though, that probably would have been the most dramatic.” 

DT clapped their hands, “ohh, a lover of the dramatic as well!.” They leaned over and lounged on Hordak’s shoulder. “I think we’re gonna be great friends.” 

“No, thank you.” Hordak moved to get up, but still felt unsteady on his feet, and swayed, nearly falling back into the chair. To his dismay, it was DT who steadied him, putting a hand on their back, instead of Entrapta’s hair holding him up.

“... can I get my braids undone now?” She asked. 

“Of course.” Jade said as she pulled up a chair. “Amethyst, you want to help me so that we can get these out faster?” She frowned, and looked at HOrdak, “Though… he might need some fresh air to help him feel a little more normal.” 

“Oh, you guys go ahead and take care of Princess Entrapta’s braids!” DT said as they jumped in front of Hordak, “I’ll take Hordak for a little walk in the garden while you’re doing that.” 

“Where’s the garden?” Entrapta asked. 

“Oh just outside this room. The door is close, we won’t be far. And besides,” they grinned, “His ears are so twitchy, I haven’t quite mastered them yet,. I want more observation time.” They looked up at Hordak, “Which I’m sure you won’t mind since I was part of this whole grand, “Let Princess Entrapta and Hordak have a little bit of a rest while an assassin tries to murder them” plot.” 

“It will be fine.” He said to Entrapta. He wanted to be with her. He didn’t want to be away from her side, but she needed her braids undone, and he needed to get out of this place with the residual fumes still clinging to the furniture. 

He could manage a few minutes without Entrapta, he was sure. He didn’t want to come off as clingy.

“We’ll meet you in the gardens after then.” Jade said as she started work on Entrapta’s braids. 

“Is it ok if I stay here?” Glimmer asked Entrapta, “I promised my aunt I’d be back… but I want to talk to you.”

“... That’s fine.” Entrapta said, smiling slightly. 

“Ah! Excellent!” DT said, “I love it when we all have plans.” They linked one of their arms around Hordak’s arm and started to pull him to the door. 

“Come on sweetie. Let’s go for a walk.” 

===========

Though there were still the same flowers in this garden, the smell wasn’t nearly as strong as it had been earlier. It was dark by now and the flowers had closed, leaving only a lingering fragrance in the air. It was still comfortably warm, and the darkness was easy on Hordak’s eyes.

It would have been perfect if Entrapta was at his side, and not DT. Hordak was sitting on a bench, and DT was sitting next to him, watching his ears intently. 

“So, they’re kinda hard to lock down.” They said. They had shifted their ears again, and were trying to move them like Hordak’s own, mostly mimicking a display of irritation. “I mean, I think I can more or less follow along with what yours are doing, but they’re always flicking when you talk. On my own all I really got is this one.” Their ears flicked down and burned blue. “Honestly, that’s the one that told me that your ears were emotive.” They laughed a little . “I mean, at first, I thought your ears only really twitched when you were napping, and I thought, ‘how cute. Sleepy ear twitches.’ But then you woke up and when you realized that you were basically naked-“ They grinned, and adjusted their ears slightly, still blue, but angled down slightly less, “And I realized that you were blushing with your ears!” They grinned at him as his own ears flicked down and burned. “Yes! Just like that!” 

“I do not appreciate-“ 

“Oh relax.” DT said, leaning back. “I’ve seen almost every species on this planet naked. I’ve BEEN most every species on this planet. As far as weird bodies go, the weirdest thing about you is the holes in your arms and your glowing eyes.” They looked aside, bored, “And hemipenes are practically mainstream down south.” 

“I do not wish to discuss this.” 

“Fine, fine.” They said, “I get it. You’re trying to keep up this whole persona thing.” They shifted into Hordak with his old armor, with the cape, much narrower eyes, and much bigger teeth, “I am the Lord of the Fright Zone! You will surrender or die! I’m big and scary and I will eat your children” They said, shaking a fist at the sky.” 

“I assure you, I have never once said that.” He said, “and I do not eat children.” 

“Well obviously.” DT said shifting back to normal, save for the ears, which kept mimicking the movement’s of Hordak’s own - which right now meant they were still down and blue while they twitched, “That’s what makes this all so fun!”

“Fun?”

“The big bad Lord of the Fright zone is actually sweet and protective, shy, and easily flustered.” They said with a grin, “I’m having more fun with this than I’ve had in awhile!” 

Hordak looked away, then said though ground teeth, “How much of today were you around me for.” 

“Oh.. not much, actually. I tried to keep out of sight after the steam grotto. I had another role to play. But, the steam grotto obviously, and in the hallway… Hey, look at me.” 

Hordak turned, and saw DT flicking their ears almost randomly, signaling off a confusing and chaotic series of feeling and intentions. 

“I’m trying to get this right without a reference. How does it look?” 

“I'd rather you stop that; it’s disconcerting.” 

Their ears fell still for a moment, then continued to mimic Hordak’s. “So what happened in the hallway? You half looked like you were about to have a panic attack or something.” 

A panic attack? What was that, some etherian disorder? He felt like he had heard of them before, but it must have only been in passing. “I got distracted, and ..I sometimes have issues with my breathing.” He looked away again, “Etherian air isn’t ideal for my lungs.” 

“Ah. I see.” They said.

“.... and I assume.” Hordak said after a silence, “That you consider yourself a professional as well, and you’re not prone to gossip.” 

DT gave a laugh, “Oh Hordak.” They said, “I’m a professional actor, not a professional guard, or attendant.” They grinned, “And actors gossip all the time.” 

Hordak’s ears dropped in horror before DH continued, “Though… I’d be more than happy to curb that in this situation for one teeny tiny itsy bitsy favor.” 

“.... and what kind of favor would that be?” 

“Well! I am a professional actor, and I take a lot of pride in my work… but those ears are tripping me up a little.” They grinned, “A little more time to study your ears, get -you- down properly. When I’m done, I want to be able to convince anyone, even others…. Is it rude if I ask you what you are? Your species, I mean.”

Hordak almost responded that he was a clone. He intended to, but instead he found himself simply answering with “Chilacian.” 

“I want to be able to convince any other Chilacian that I’m one of them… even if I’ll never meet another.” They gave him an innocent smile, “Give me time to do that and I’ll be so happy I’ll forget any silly little pieces of gossip.” They held a hand out. “Shake on it?”

Hordak hesitated, then shook DT’s hand, “Very well.” 

Afterwards, DT gave Hordak a wicked grin, “You know.” They said, “I wasn’t planning to do any gossiping until you asked about it specifically.” Hummed happily, and looked away, “You need to be careful- your shyness could practically become a weakness!” 

“I am not-“ He was cut off by the feeling of Entrapta’s hair wrapping around his waist and turning him to look at her. She had just come in from the side door, her hair feeling softer on his skin and looking shinier in the moonlight than it ever had before. 

She was always beautiful. She was stunning now. 

“What do you think!” She asked as she let her hair twist about her, “I think it was worth keeping it up in those braids!” 

“You.. Your hair looks.” He cleared his throat, “Your hair is exceptional at all times, Entrapta.” He said, “... but it looks particularly lovely right now, yes.” 

“Oh, how romantic.” DT said dryly behind him. Entrapta looked behind Hordak, releasing him from her hair. 

“Are.. are you two doing ok?” She asked. 

“Why Princess Entrapta.” DT said, leaning over Hordak’s shoulder and draping their arms over him, “We’re practically besties.” 

Hordak cringed, sighed, then said, “.... besties might be pushing it.”


	54. Beans

“So... that Double Trouble just wants to learn how to be you?” Entrapta asked as Jade led them from the gardens to the last room. They were speaking quietly so that she didn’t hear them. Double Trouble had taken off a little before they left the garden so for now that were free of them. 

“Apparently.” Hordak said as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Something about being a professional actor.” 

“And… you’re going to let them?”

Hordak gave a deep sigh. “I told them that I have vital and important things I have to get done that will require no distractions… but then yes, I agreed.” 

Entrapta’s now very silky very shiny hair twisted about her, “Why did you agree though? Double Trouble seems a little…” She trailed off as she tried to find the right word. 

“Intrusive.” Hordak answered for her. “But…Having someone who can impersonate me might be useful.” 

“Oh?”

“I’ve been worried about the possibility of Horde Prime coming on his own, or if I’m questioned at any point by another clone, there could be problems.” His ears twitched in irritation, “Double Trouble caught on quickly about my ear movements being involuntary. If someone who can actually read my ears questions me about something, and I lie, they -will- know because of the ears.” 

“Oooh” Entrapta’s hair wrapped around his waist, “So, if Double Trouble can impersonate you-“ 

“They can control their ear movements, A lie from me while my ears aren’t reacting would be very convincing.” 

“I see.” 

After a moment, Hordak couldn’t take the guilt eating away in his stomach. Entrapta already thought he was hiding the whole hallucinations thing from her. “And… and they insinuated that allowing them to study me would keep them from gossiping about me.” He felt his ears flick down and burn. 

Entrapta frowned as she looked up at Hordak, “what would they gossip about.” 

“Just… stuff.” He shrugged, his ears twitching, “The steam grotto.” 

“Oh. Well, Why does that matter? I mean, it was kinda embarrassing, but that’s how you’re supposed to be dressed.”

“It might not matter to you.” Hordak said pointedly, “But I’m not Etherian. I do not have what would be considered typical anatomy. I’d rather not have people giving me strange looks all the time or asking strange questions.” He frowned, “Given this might provide an advantage anyway it works out.” 

“....If you don’t want to, I can have a “talk” to Double Trouble.” Entrapta said, her hair fizzing out. Hordak didn’t know how hair could fizz out violently, but Entrapta made it work. 

“They were involved in preventing the assassination as well.” Hordak said with a sigh, “So it doesn’t quite seem right to threaten them after that. Besides that, I don’t think they actually intended to gossip...They just figured it would bother me and used that to get me to agree.” 

“That doesn’t seem right.” 

Hordak shrugged. “It.. it’s fine. I can deal with Double Trouble. For a little while anyway.” He frowned, “What we need to think up though is a way to tell each other from them if they decide to try to trick us.” 

“I have an idea.” Entrapta said with a grin, “I’ll take care of that.” 

Hordak was going to ask what she had in mind, but Jade had stopped and opened a door to let them inside. Amethyst was already there, setting out tools. 

“... I assumed we’d not see you anymore.” Hordak said as he watched her lay out a collection of strange looking files and curved scissors. Now that he knew she was Queen’s Guard, and the assassination attempt was finished-“ 

“ I know right!” Hordak hadn’t noticed Double Trouble leaning on the wall next to the door, but he heard them right away, “If it was me i’d be gone, but hey, she said she promised Jade she’d help regardless, so here she is! Isn’t she a trooper.” 

Hordak’s ears fell as his face tightened. DT laughed as they saw this, “Oh don’t worry, I’m gone.” They said, “I was just having a little chat with Amethyst. I’ve been told to give you some space; couples spa, relaxation, blah blah blah.” They dramatically ficked their hair as they strode past Hordak and Entrapta, stopped, and then turned around. 

“Oh, I almost forgot something.” They looked back and grinned, “I’ve been told that I can be a bit ‘much’ for some people. Especially people who are sh- I mean, people who are as reserved as you are.” They smirked, “So I figured I’d do a little something to help you out. Free of charge!” 

Jade sighed and pushed Hordak and Entrapta into the room, “You two might as well take a seat,” She said. 

“How do you want to ‘help’ us?” Entrapta asked. 

“Oh darling, Princess Entrapta, thats easy!” They grinned. “See, I just got paid for my services today from Queen Castaspella. I hung around a bit before I went to see them. Played the serious guard and all that, and I heard some interesting stuff.” They grinned at Hordak, “Your position as official Bright Moon representative to the Horde is about to be made public! Congratulations!’ 

Hordak sighed as he sat heavily into a reclined chair. “Great.” He muttered, “I really hope Queen Glimmer doesn’t want to do any kind of ceremony.”

“Oh most likely there’ll be a ceremony.” DT said, “But that’s not important! What’s important is what Queen Castaspella pointed out.” They gave a little chuckle, “The citizens will riot! The former leader of the Horde suddenly working for Queen Glimmer? Nobody is going to believe it. Nobody is going to trust you.” 

Great. This again. Hordak just hoped that Queen Glimmer wouldn’t suggest another truth spell in front of a larger audience. 

“But there's a good reason he’s here!” Entrapta said, “He-“ 

“Oh I know. I heard the whole thing.” They grinned, “and it’s a good story, but the citizens won’t get a chance to see that, will they? The princesses might be softening to you. Queen Glimmer certainly has-“ Hordak felt his ears quirk with surprise. She had? “- but the common people won’t be around you to see what they’re seeing.” 

“What, so you suggest some kind of public spectacle?” Hordak muttered. He didn’t know if he could do that. Not without wanting to die a little. 

“Well, that’d be best, but I don’t think your ears could take that.” They said, amused. “No, let’s do this the easy way and get other people to do the brunt of the work for you.” 

“And how do you think we should do that?” 

DT leaned against the door frame and crossed their arms, grinning, “Let’s start with that assassin.” They said, “They’re captured, magically bound, awaiting judgement from Queen Castaspella. Now, because this risks being an issue between Mystacor and Bright Moon, she’s going to get your opinion on the punishment.” They tilted their head to Hordak, “Do you know how criminals are dealt with in Mystacor.” 

Hordak sighed, and turned to Amethyst, “Amethyst.” He said, “Does Mystacor have prisons?”

“Nope.” 

He looked back to DT, “Then i’m assuming execution.” 

“That’s one option, and if you had been killed, it would be the only one. But you’re alive, so the other option for them is ‘magical rehabilitation.”

“And that is?”

“Oh, they magically erase the memories of the person who committed the act, and then ‘retrain’ them to function in society.” They give a wide smile that showed too much teeth, “If they do it again, they alter the brain.” 

Brains. Alterations. Nope. Nope nope nope. 

“No.” 

DT clapped their hands, “Excellent! You think that’s as awful as-“ 

Hordak cut them off and looked at Entrapta, “I had prisons. I had balanced punishments. I didn’t do executions. I had corporal punishments, but not executions! They’re pulling the same stuff as prime, and -I’m- the villain!” Hordak felt his breath catch, and it felt suddenly hard to breath. He stopped, and took several long breaths. 

“Could we not talk about that?” Entrapta asked DT. 

DT had been watching Hordak closely and let out a very low, “interesting.” That only Hordak managed to catch. “Well, my point is, you’re going to get to choose.” 

“I dislike both those options!” 

“I know! I do too! Anyway, here’s my plan.” They beamed at Hordak, “Entrapta is going to BEG you to show leniency to the girl, and she’s going to suggest that she be sent to work in one of the mines under Mystacor. It’s not something that’s normally done, but-“

“Wouldn’t it be better if I suggested that without Entrapta begging?”

“You’d think.” DT said, “But no. If you do, people will just wonder why. They’ll think you have some alternative plan. If Entrapta begs you and you relent, then they’ll just think-“ they put a hand to their forehead and mimicked a swoon, “Ooooh, the big bad Hordak has fallen for the tiny purple Princess! She has him wrapped around her little finger.” They quickly shifted into another person- this one Hordak didn’t know, but they were tall and red-haired, “Oh, did you hear! Hordak’s apparently an absolute sap for Entrapta! That’s why he joined the rebellion!” They shifted into another person, a small pink-haired girl with wings, “Ohh, That’s so romantic!” She cooed, her eyes sparkling. The shifted into another, this time a larger male with short hair and a beard, “The former Fright Zone Lord is all sappy for Princess Entrapta? Well, so long as he’s working for us now I guess.” 

Hordak turned to Entrapta, “I… I think I’m being mocked?”

DT turned back into themselves, “Oh, a little, but that’s the reaction we want! A reasonable, plausible explanation. Something that makes a good enough story that nobody will be asking, ‘but what’s the real reason’ and one that appeals to the general masses. This kind of love story? This trope right here?” They pointed to Hordak and Entrapta, “The big scary one is soft for the small sweet one? People love that. They’ll eat it up. We let that rumor get around before you’re officially appointed, and I don’t think you’ll have as much trouble in Bright Moon with the general public… or as many future assassination attempts.”

Hordak gave another sigh as he rubbed his temples, “So you’re suggesting Entrapta and I put on an act to-“ 

“Oh, my, sweet- I mean, Hordak, no! No no. You’re not a good enough actor to pull that off.” They waved their hand at him, “No no, I’m just telling you the story that I’ll be telling Castaspella. Amethyst is going to stop the guard the queen is going to send, and when she gets here Amethyst will implant a false memory in her head -“ 

“I dislike that-“ 

“We’re not changing anything, just adding something. It’s like hypnosis.” They grinned, “Then I shift into them, and go and feed Queen Castaspella that story.” They clapped their hands, “Anyway, that’s my little… show of good faith to you. And I promise, I’m not getting paid for this one. Not yet anyway.” 

“They’re getting something out of it though.” Amethyst said, “They always do.” They gave DT a pointed look. 

“Fine fine, I’m gone.” They said, They looked at Hordak and Entrapta, “You kids enjoy your little date night. I’ll just be outside waiting for the guard and listening for the squees.”

“The… sorry, what?”

“You’ll know.” DT said as they left. Jade gave a deep sigh and went back into the room, closing the door behind her. 

“Sorry about them.” Jade said. “I mean. They’re not bad. They’re not good either. Not really.” She went over to a nearby counter and poured up some of the juice that she had served Entrapta and Hordak when they were in the Steam Grotto. Entrapta sniffed at it this time. 

“More of the detoxing juice.” She said as she poured another glass and passed it to Hordak, “To help get the last of those fumes out of your bodies.” Hordak sniffed it, and then took a long drink. 

“Should we not follow their plan then.” Hordak said, frowning, “I just realized I never really agreed to it, they just-“ 

“Oh. Oh no, that’s a good plan.” Amethyst said as she pulled a stool up to the edge of Hordak’s chair. She pulled a basin full of hot water out from under the chair and went to lift Hordak’s feet. He pulled away from her and placed them in the basin himself. 

“.. apologies.” He said after a moment. 

“It’s nothing. I can understand being a little jumpy.” She poured some kind of salt into the water before standing up again and then bringing a taller chair over to Hordak’s side along with a table covered in tools, and set it to one side. “I’m going to do your nails now.” She said, 

“What exactly does that entail.” 

“Cleaned, filed, and painted if you want.” She said.

Hordak gave a low chuckle. To his side, Jade was already working on Entrapta’s nails - filing them carefully. He glanced back at Amethyst to see her giving him a confused look. 

“I think you’ll have some trouble with that.” He said.

She gestured for him to put his hand on the table. He complied. She took up his hand and looked at the strange fingertips. 

“Oh.” She said after a moment. “You don’t actually have fingernails.” 

“Not quite.” He said, He flexed his hand and the claws came out. 

He expected a scream of shock, but he didn’t get that. Amethyst looked at his claws, her eyes widening. 

“I have never seen such long nails!” She finally said. 

“They’re not nails.” Hordak said, “They’re claws.” 

“Still! They have a perfect shape, and they’re so long, and they’re really strong! Do you know what I could do to these nails!!”

To the side, he could hear Entrpata stifle a giggle. He felt his ears twitch in response. “Do you know what these nails could do to you?”

“Let me do nail art.” She said, “Please! I’ll make it good! I’m of course a Queen’s guard first, and an ok spa attendant, but I'm really good at nail art.”

“She is, actually.” Jade cut in.

“If you wish.” Hordak said as he took another sip of the juice, “Though I don’t see the point of art on claws, I am not opposed to artistic endeavours.” He frowned, “But do be very careful. Those nails are very sharp, and they could hurt you.” 

“Unimportant!” She declared. She pulled a bowl over and set his claws into the water. “Keep your claws extended so they can soak. I’m going to start on your feet… are the nails the same there?”

“No. They’re weaker.” He frowned at her as she got up and went back to the stool, “Why do you bother with the feet. I wear boots all the time anyway-“

“Not important!” She said. She took out new tools, bigger than the ones that she had for his fingernails. Hordak watched her put on her gloves, and reach down for his foot. He sighed, thinking to himself once again that Etherians were strange as he reclined back into the chair and took another sip of the fizzy juice. 

A second later, he heard a faint, high-pitched sound that could only be described as a squeal, followed by Amethyst squeezing something on the bottom of the toe. 

“... I know they’re odd feet.” He said, feeling his ears burn, “But I didn’t think they were that-“ 

“No no!” She said, her eyes sparkling, her mouth turned up into this ridiculous grin, “Jade! HE HAS TOE BEANS!”

Hordak watched her, entirely confused as she squeezed the bottoms of his toes, causing his foot claws to flex. 

“... Excuse you.” He said, “Are you calling my feet dirty? I assure you, while I’ve never partaken in one of these spa days, my sanitation is-“ 

Entrapta laughed, “No no. Hordak. She means your digital pads.” 

Hordak blinked. “... really?” Almost in response she squeezed the one on his smallest toe. 

“So small!” She whispered as she continued to squeeze his toes, “Little beans!” 

“I am very confused.” He said to Entrapta. “Why beans?”

Entrapta just grinned and shook her head, “Don’t worry about it.” She said, “But she thinks your toes are cute.” 

“Nothing about me is cute.” He muttered, his ears flushed as he leaned back and tried to ignore Amethyst squeezing his feet and muttering under her breath - probably not thinking he could hear her- “Toe beans. Lil’ beans!” 

Outside the door, he swore he could hear that DT chuckling. Not he knew what they meant by a “squee”


	55. Help

Thankfully, Queen Castaspella didn’t join them as they got on the carriage to start their return home. They’d still have to take that very strange floating rock to get back to a point where Glimmer could teleport them back to Bright Moon, but Hordak didn’t think he minded so much anymore. 

“I swear, I didn’t know about the assassination thing, Hordak.” Glimmer said. Hordak was only half listening. He flexed his hand again, his claws coming out and glinting in the light of the magical lanterns that illuminated the wagon. 

“Hordak?”

“Hmm?” Hordak turned, and retractracted his nails. It took him a moment for his distracted mind to piece together what exactly Glimmer had said. 

“I believe you.” He said after a moment. “Like I said, if you wanted me dead, there’s easier ways to have done it.” He turned back to his hand, and flexed. 

“What are you so fascinated with?” Glimmer asked. Entrapta grinned and held her hand out to Glimmer. “We had manicures.” She said. “Look! They put purple on mine, with little gears on my nails!” 

Glimmer gave a low chucke, “That’s very you, Entrapta.” She said, then glanced at Hordak, “Wait, you got your nails done as well?”

Hordak turned to Glimmer, held out his hand, and flexed. Five deadly nails had been covered in a thin layer of polish, buffed with some strange powder that gave them a bluish metallic look, then carefully detailed with perfectly straight purple lines that angled and wrapped around the nail towards the point. 

“I am surprised at how proficient Amethyst was.” Hordak said, keeping his voice deadpan, “I have never had my nails painted before. I do not entirely disapprove of the experience.” 

Next to him, Entrapta made a dismissive noise, “Come on.” She said, “You liked the whole thing. I mean, save for the assassination.” 

Hordak frowned, looked away, and nodded. “I did not entirely dislike this spa day.” He said, “I would not be opposed to it in the future.” 

Entrapta grinned and turned to Glimmer, “He had a great time, all things considered.” She said. She nudged Hordak with her elbow and turned his head towards Glimmer with her hair while Imp, who was sat on his lap, screeched at him. 

He cleared his throat, “Uh. Yes. I had a good time. My thanks for arranging it.” He managed to say. 

Glimmer couldn’t help but give a low giggle at the spectacle. She quickly stifled herself, then looked at Hordak with her brows knit in confusion, “I honestly thought you’d be more mad about the assassination attempt.” 

“I’m used to them.” He said, “Though… I do have to ask.” He pointed at the very large cloth bag at Glimmer’s feet, “What is -that-“ 

Glimmer sighed, and opened the bag to reveal a stockpile of different colors of wool and various differently size knitting needles. 

“I picked up on the whole knitting thing.” She said, frowning, “And Aunt Castaspella suddenly decided to give me all of the wool that she had stockpiled.” 

Entrapta nodded, “When I was very very little, I had an aunt who taught me crochet. I picked it up, but it was boring. But she still threw all this old wool at me. I think it’s a tradition or something- when you teach someone how to knit or crochet, you give them all the wool you don’t want.” She shrugged. “Regardless, I don’t do it now.” 

Hordak felt his ears flick. Right. In order to arrange this, Glimmer had spent the entire day with her aunt who was ‘a bit much’. “Did you… Enjoy your time with your aunt?” He asked carefully. 

Glimmer sighed, “She’s being very careful not to talk about mom.” She said, frowning, “I wish everyone would stop tip-toeing around it. I mean.. I mean we don’t even know… She could still be-“ 

She trailed off, looked out the window for a moment, then looked back, “Aunt Castaspella was picking at my clothes and my hair and everything, but she said I’m becoming a ‘fine queen’ which-“ she gave a little smile, “Was good to hear. I feel like I’m not.” 

“You’re doing fine!” Entrapta said, “I mean, I think that this all happened at a hard time but-“ 

Hordak wasn’t listening anymore though. His mind had caught on something that Glimmer had said, and now he was going over probabilities and theories in his head. She was right. 

Angella could still be alive. 

============

  
  


They got back to their room at Bright Moon without any disruption. It was late, and everyone was gone to bed. Hordak hoped that his former troops were doing well. He didn't know how they’d be coping with Bright Moon, but… 

Well, at least he knew they were being taken care of, and not executed. Or brainwashed.

They entered their room, and Imp glided over to the bed and plopped down next to one of the pillows. Entrapta giggled and followed him, flopping onto the bed next to him. “ ahh” She said, “You know, I don’t normally spend so much time doing nothing. I normally find it so boring, but… I guess with you around it wasn’t so bad.” She grinned at Hordak. 

Hordak chuckled and went over to the bed, laying down next to Entrapta. Even though he had overall enjoyed the experience at Mystacor it was good to be -

Home? His ears flicked as confusion overcame him for a moment. When had BrightMoon become home? Was it because this is where he could be alone with Entrapta? Because this is where his tech was now?

Entrapta turned over, pushed him onto his side, and wrapped her hair around him as she snuggled into his back. “You really did like it too though, right?”

“I have never been so pampered.” He admitted. “I thought I would disapprove of … other people in my personal space. He rested his hand atop Entrapta’s which was resting on his stomach, “Oddly, I did not hate this.” 

“That’s good.” She said as she pressed her cheek into his back, “I’d like to do that again. When this is all over. Just for fun, not because we need it.” 

Hordak nodded as he brought his hand up and flexed his claws, admiring the work down. 

“Admiring your nails again?” Entrapta asked. Hordak felt his ears flush as he nodded, “I’m glad.” She said, “They look good on you. And they’ll probably last a while too, since you have them retracted most of the time.” She propped herself up so she could see his glittering claws. She shot her hair out to turn off the light, and admired the nails in the moonlight as it flooded in through their window, “Think you’ll get it done again when it gets chipped? Spa day or no?” 

“Perhaps.” 

Entrapta giggled as she got comfortable. Imp rolled into the pillows, and screeched suddenly. Hordak lifted his head as Imp dug into the pillows and pulled something out from between them, a small white box tied up with string. 

“What’s that?” Entrapta asked as she lifted herself up slightly to see over Hordak’s broad shoulders. 

Hordak just smiled as he undid the string and opened the box. Just before they had left Bright moon, he had sent a package down to Morgana, to see if she could do something for him. As he opened the box, he could see she had been successful. 

His crystal was now wrapped carefully with lavender wire that twisted about the pendant the way Hordak thought that Entrapta’s hair might have, holding it firmly in place while still keeping the inscription visible. The wires twisted at the top, forming a small but secure loop through which a thin but strong looking chain was run. 

“I sent the crystal down to Morgana.” Hordak said as she pulled the pendant over his head, “I.. I wanted to wear it, but it’s broken, so it can’t power the armor…” 

“You’re sure you’re not embarrassed to be wearing it?” Entrapta asked, “I mean, Adora reads First Ones, and everyone from the Fright Zone knows-“ 

Hordak turned over, wrapping his arms around Entrapta and holding her close. He kissed the top of her head before he pressed his face into her hair, nuzzling her gently. 

“Never.” He said. 

Imp sat up, screeched at them, then took off, flying out a window to explore the castle and perhaps get some treats down in the kitchens while he gave Entrapta and Hordak some alone time. 

=================

Hordak normally woke slowly these days unless Entrapta was waking him from a dream he couldn’t remember. He no longer set alarms for himself to ensure he only got an hour of sleep a day, but despite that he normally ever needed 2 hours of sleep unless he was hurt of course. He had no problems spending several hours in a doze, cuddling with Entrapta as she got the eight hours that she needed. It gave him time to go over problems in his head. It was relaxing and comforting, and not something he had ever done before Entrapta. 

Today though, he had been woken up by pain. Dull, deep pain all through his body. It was worse in his legs. Why was it worse in his legs? His legs had never hurt like this before. 

For a while he simply lay there, wishing the pain away before his mind fully woke up. He was still naked, wrapped up in Entrapta’s hair as she slept beside him. Somewhere in the room, he could hear Imp who had come back from his exploration at some point. He could hear Entrapta snoring, could smell the shampoo from Mystacor off her hair. 

But the pain was getting worse. It was slowly drowning out everything else, creeping into his body like the roots of some great tree, slowly breaking the foundations of his body. 

His armor. Right. How long had it been since he wore his armor? That he had lasted this long without it was a surprise. 

He got up slowly, detangling himself from Entrapta’s hair. He didn’t want to wake her if he could help it. Of course if he didn’t wake her… If he started to try to deal with this himself and she woke up in the process he had the idea that she wouldn’t be very happy with him. 

He sighed, and gently shook her awake. Her gentle snores cut off as she sleepily said, “wha… Wha’z it?”

“I… I need some help.” Hordak said, feeling his ears droop down and burn. He wanted to be able to deal with this himself. In the Fright Zone he would have been able to, but without the setup he had in the Fright Zone, he couldn’t put his armor on by himself. “I need help putting my armor on.” 

Entrapta slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes, “Why.. what’s wrong? Do we need to go somewhere?”

“The pain is back.” He said. 

That woke Entrapta up. He could see her eyes widen in the moonlight as she came to. She nodded, and sent her hair out to grab his things. “I was kinda hoping it’d stay away a little longer.” She said quietly as gave him a sleepy grin as she pulled him upright with her hair. She lifted his arms and pulled his dress over him, “I think you’re really cute without your armor.” 

He felt his ears burn. “I know.” He muttered. He had been about to protest and say that he could at least dress himself but Entrapta moved quickly, and he didn’t necessarily mind her taking care of him. He adjusted the dress so it hung off him properly and then slowly, painfully, started to stand up. Entrapta wasted no time, and lifted him up with her hair instead. 

“... apologies.” He said after a moment. Entrapta brought his armor from the corner over with her hair and gently started to put it in place. The process still hurt, but in comparison to the pain that was coursing through his body, it was nothing. 

“Nothing to apologize for.” She said, her voice pleasant, but still clearly sleepy, “I’m just glad you woke me up to help you.” She leaned in and kissed him on the back of his ear, causing his ear to flick, and despite the pain a little smile flickered over his face. 

“I.. figured I should,” he said as she started to attach pieces of armor to him, “You… I thought you’d be angry if I didn’t.”

“I wouldn’t have been angry.” She said as she snapped the neckpiece with it’s replacement crystal into place. She made sure to pull his new pendant out so that it hung over the armor, “I’d want to help you, I know you’d want to help me. If I was in pain, you’d want me to tell you. If I knew you could help, you’d want me to ask for your help.” She finished putting the last pieces of the armor’s arms on before leaning in and kissing the side of his neck. She lay back down on the bed, propped up against the pillows, and pulled him down into her. She gently played with his hair as she held onto him. “I hope this-“ she yawned, “I hope this helps the pain a little.” 

Hordak made a happy “hmm,” sound as she played with his hair. With the armor on, the strain on his muscles was already lifting. His legs still hurt, and he started to wonder if that was because of the massage from earlier. Maybe it had been something like using muscles you didn’t normally use, and now they were sore. He didn’t know- he never had a massage before. 

He probably would have asked Entrapta, but he started chirping, and he was just so comfortable, he didn’t want to move. He stayed like that for a while before Entrapta fell asleep, her hand dropping from his head and falling still. 

The pain wasn’t gone, but he felt better. Maybe it just felt worse now because he had been free of the pain for so long. Maybe he always had this pain in his legs, but had just never noticed it before. It didn't matter, he could deal with this pain. With his armor on, he could deal with this. He did glance over at the mechanical spider still on their nightstand and cursed himself for not looking for more painkillers. He was certain that the painkillers he had injected into himself had made his pain go away. Well, that or the added nutrients from the rations. He’d have to get the painkillers analysed as well. 

Though.. speaking of the rations. 

Despite all he had eaten and drank that day, he found himself hungry now. He was considering walking down to the Lab-ship to get more, thinking that if he was just gone for that Entrapta wouldn’t mind, but then he realized that he didn’t have to go quite that far. Entrapta had brought a handful back to their room for analysis. 

He got up, and went to her desk. Sure enough, the little bag of rations was sitting there next to her computer. He took one, and popped it into his mouth quickly, not bothering to savour the taste this time since he had been so disappointed last time. 

He should have though. He decided that the one he had had the other day must have been defective, or had gone stale because while it hadn’t tasted as good as he recalled, this one tasted just like he remembered, indescribable and perfect. 

He went back to the bed, crawled back into Entrapta’s embrace, and to his surprise dozed off as Entrapta’s hair wrapped around him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Psssst. hey! You! yeah, you! you want to read the good smut that happened after they snuggled on the bed there?
> 
> Of course you do!
> 
> Pop over to read “Consort” in the BrightMoon after Dark series. 
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/23120803


	56. Perma Frost

As in most castles, it was the kitchens of Bright Moon that saw activity before anywhere else. The stoves were lit, loves of bread were being baked, breakfast was being prepared and a heated argument had already broken out. 

“Look, I don’t care what you think you know; you’re in my kitchen, you work by my rules!” Janine said. She was a shorter, plump woman with a kindly face, but a sharp tongue. She had been the head cook at Bright Moon for more than a decade now, and she wasn’t going to stand for this young ‘cook’ from the Fright Zone telling her what was what! 

“All I’m saying-“ Luk said, “Is that if you move the worktable from the other side of the kitchen to right here-“ He stood in the center of the kitchen, forming a triangle with the sink and the woodstove, “-then you’ll have a more efficient layout, and you’ll be able to get work done faster.” 

“Faster. Psh. I tell you-“ She looked at her assistant, a short, timid looking woman who ran about the kitchen with ease. “This guy thinks he can change everything around here to make things more ‘efficient’. Before you know it we’ll be so efficient, we’ll be slapping out grey little bars on plates!” 

Luk’s face flushed an angry red, “Excuse me for having to feed hundreds of soldiers instead of a handful of princesses.” He snapped. He had wanted to work - a day in the overly comfortable room he was ‘imprisoned’ in had left him feeling bored and lazy. But this woman was being so irritating! He didn’t want to change everything, he just wanted to make it so that it was a little easier for everyone to walk around without bumping into each other.

Though, maybe he was a little tense, and his tone had come off as a bit aggressive because of that. It wasn’t his fault; the Bright Moon guard who had been following him around was putting him on edge. 

Hordak cleared his throat. He had entered the kitchen silently a few minutes ago and had been watching Luk butting heads with the Bright Moon cook. Any worries he had held about the treatment of his old troops dissolved as he watched the argument get more and more heated while the guards just watched. 

If they were letting them argue, then they were probably fine. 

“Lord Hordak!” Luk said as he spun around and gave a quick bow. Hordak sighed, 

“It’s simply Hordak.” He said, deadpan.

“Ah. I see. Hordak. Hordak then, What bring-“ 

“What brings you to the Bright Moon Kitchens, Hordak.” Janine said, stepping before Luk and nearly pushing him out of the way, “Most of the time, the princesses will send someone down to pass on any messages.” 

“Well.” Hordak said slowly, his eyes darting around, “Normally I’d have sent Imp but... Ah, there he is.” His eyes landed on Imp who was sitting on the counter, eating what looked like pancakes. He took a step forward, “Imp, stop that.” He said, “That’ll make you sick-“

“Oh my no.” Janine said with a laugh, “Those are special pancakes. I took a guess that this little guy’s tastes would be the same as yours, so I’ve been testing my recipes on him.” She made her way over to the plate faster than Hordak expected, “These are made without flour, without eggs, or dairy. Sweetened with honey. Now the first batch was a little bland and he didn’t like those, but this batch, I experimented with some spices, and he seems to like that!” She crossed her arms and beamed at Hordak. “So, I think they’re about ready.” 

“I see.” Hordak looked down at Imp who indeed didn’t seem to be sick, and did seem to be enjoying himself. 

“I gotta admit.” Janine said, “I do like a challenge. A chance to experiment. And I suppose your food choices have been a little limited in the Fright Zone-“ 

“Hey, I -“ 

“Actually.” Hordak said, deadpan, “I found that the choices provided were well balanced, given the strained resources we often had. With proper materials, and less mouths to feed, I’d be impressed to see what Luk could manage.” He turned from Imp - he could stay here if he wanted, he seemed happy enough- and back to Janine, “Ah, Yes. I would have sent him down with a message, but I couldn’t find him. I thought I’d walk down myself. “ He tilted his head, “I don’t find myself hungry today, but I had the feeling that Entrapta might like something called ‘Crepes’ “If they’re something you can make. With fruit inside. Can they be made tiny?”

Luk jumped up, “I can make them!” He said, then turned to Janine, “I’ll make them, and you won’t have to worry about it at all. I just want something to do!” 

“Fine, fine, if you think you can make a crepe without ruining it, then be my guest.” She frowned, and turned away from him as he went off to the pantry to get supplies. She looked up at Hordak. 

“Not hungry? Not at all?”

He could tell that she was disappointed, and he did appreciate the work she had put into developing new recipes…” 

“Maybe a very small plate.” He finally conceded.

==========

Of all the people Hordak might have wanted to see first thing in the morning, Shadow Weaver was the last person on his list. To be honest, he hadn’t expected to see any of the princesses as he assumed they allowed themselves to sleep until the afternoon unless they had reason to get up.

He also figured Shadow Weaver wasn’t necessarily what they called a morning person. Still. It was only the slightest twitch of his ears that gave away any displeasure when he saw her turn a corner while he was on his way back to his room. 

“Good Morning, Hordak.” She said, a tone of false pleasantries coating her voice, “Going on a picnic today after your spa day yesterday?”

The cooks had put everything they had for him and Entrapta into a wicker basket to make it easier for him to carry everything. He figured he would have been able to carry it without a basket, but why make things harder for himself? Still. As he looked down at it, it did look like what he would describe as a picnic basket. “I decided to bring Entrapta breakfast.” He said, deadpan, “She mentioned she’d like crepes.” 

“How sweet. Lord Hordak-“ 

“It’s not Lord.” 

“-Bringing his princess lover some breakfast in bed.” 

He stopped. Deep down, he felt like he should be angry, or embarrassed. He didn’t know why he should feel the latter. Entrapta was a Princess. She was his lover. And he was bringing her breakfast. What was wrong with that?

“Should I not?” He asked, “I was under the impression it was considered a good thing to do.” 

Shadow Weaver was silent. She watched him carefully, her eyes - he didn’t know entirely how the eyes on her mask managed to be expressive, but they were - slightly widened in confusion. After a moment, she continued walking, “What did they do to you at Mystacor yesterday.” She said as she passed, “More than a steam bath and a manicure, I assume?” 

Hordak was quick. He shot his hand out towards Shadow Weaver’s face, stopped less than an inch away from her nose, and flexed his hand, exposing his painted claws to her. She took a step back, her eyes widening in fear as she eyed his claws. 

It occurred to him that maybe she was remembering what he did to the clone back in the Dead Zone. He remembered how she had been the one who sounded the most scared of him in the aftermath. 

To be fair, he hadn’t intended to scare her all that much. Just a little. Maybe he just wanted to startle her. Oh well. 

“I did indeed get a manicure.” He said, letting his nails glitter in the light. “I’d have thought it a useless thing, but who am I to complain. They did good work, I think.” 

She looked at him carefully, her eyes flicking from his claws to his face. She took another step away, turned, and continued down the hallway. He turned and continued towards his room, enjoying the slight feeling of joy in the fact that he could at least still scare somebody. 

============

“Why didn’t you wake me!” Entrapta demanded when he came back into the room. She had apparently woken up once he was gone, and she was all dressed, getting ready to leave and look for him. She looked angry, but then her eyes flicked to the basket. 

“I didn’t go anywhere important.” He said. He held the basket up, “You mentioned at one point last night that you’d like crepes. Imp was gone, so I went and requested them.” 

“Oh.” Entrapta said, her hair drooping slightly. She looked up sheepishly at Hordak, “Sorry. I thought-” 

“I know.” He said, “No need to apologize. I’ve given you plenty of reason to think I’d have wandered off to deal with something.” He cleared some space on their worktable, and took out some plates and cups for the food and drink. 

“... You ok?” She asked. 

“Of course.” He said, glancing up at her as he took out the packed up crepes. “Why would you think I’m not?”

“You’re doing it again.” 

“Doing what?”

“... The ear thing. Or, I guess you’re not doing the ear thing?” Her hair twisted around her, “Your ears aren’t as twitchy anymore. I mean, they’re moving, twitching, but not like they normally do. Not like they were yesterday after the steam grotto.” 

“Maybe I’m simply relaxed.” He said. He did feel relaxed. He felt like all the bad things he had been feeling were far, far away. “I feel fine.” He assured her, giving her a quick smile as he brought her crepe over to her, “After breakfast, we’ll go to the Lab Ship. I want to start work on replicating the implant. The program I set up on the computer hasn't broken through the security yet, but soon, I hope.” 

Entrapta looked at Hordak, looked at her Breakfast, and then nodded, though she was frowning slightly “Fine.” She said. She took one of the tiny crepes up with a fork, and ate it quickly before she asked him between bites, “Want to brush out my hair for me while I eat?” She deposited a brush into his hands. 

He had those pancakes in the basket for himself, but he wasn’t hungry- he could eat them later when he’d enjoy them. Besides, if Entrapta was worried for him, if she thought maybe he was being distant as he had been before, he’d do what he could to relieve those concerns. 

He climbed up on the bed, sat behind her, and slowly started to brush out her hair while she enjoyed the pancakes, working slowly and carefully to keep her hair soft and silky and shiny as it had been the day before.

========

The storage case was all done processing the body, and the tanks were filled with base materials to reconstruct most organic components he might need. The brain floated placidly in the jar, shifting only when Hordak moved it, drifting almost as though it were nodding, ‘Yes, I’m ready for my examination, Horde Doctor.’

“We’ll have you sorted out soon.” He muttered to it as he set it to the side where he could see it while he worked on the salvaged implant before him. Entrapta glanced up at him, eyed him carefully while staring at his ears, but she didn’t say anything before turning back to her own work. She came with her Data pad - the results of the analysis on the rations was done, and she was now picking through the data. After she was done, he’d have her do the same to the painkillers that he had taken the day before. The lack of pain was nice. Not having to wear his armor was nice. 

Entrapta liked how he looked without his armor. So strange. But that was nice too, even if it was confusing. He could understand her admiring his mind perhaps, or being fascinated with him, but how she could find him physically attractive was beyond him. 

As Entrapta worked though the various chemicals in the rations. Hordak pulled apart the implants and recorded them. Recreating this was tedious, boring work to be sure. There was a chance that he’d be able to find the diagrams for it in Prime’s files when they were cracked, but in the meantime he needed to examine the programming, and there was no guarantee that the files had what he needed for this. Each individual piece had to be painstakingly examined, it’s shape and dimensions recorded, the object scanned so he could make a copy later. How did each piece fit into the rest of the pieces? He was taking apart a puzzle and recording every piece, every shape, every image so that he could recreate it later. 

Boring. Tedious. Oddly peaceful today. This was the kind of work that normally bothered him. It took very little thinking, and he often felt he was wasting his time when he had to focus on such things. Today his mind seemed content to just work on this. 

Perhaps it was good that it wasn’t bothering him today. Maybe the spa had actually been better for him that he had expected. He felt far more at ease, far more relaxed, and far more content to do this busy work. He could look at the brain floating in the jar (Well Horde Doctor, Will I be ok? No, I’m afraid not. You’re a brain in a jar you see. Trapped, with no way to experience the outside world)

“Hordak?”

Hordak looked up from his work- he was already halfway through the thing so he was making great progress- and realized that hours had already passed. He looked at the clock almost blankly for a moment. How had so much time passed so quickly? How had he not noticed? Had Entrapta been talking to him? She normally did. 

“Yes?”

“I got this more or less figured out.” She glided over to him on her hair and rested on his shoulders, draping her arms over his chest as she held her data pad in front of him. “I’ve isolated most of this. Most of it’s just basic organic materials, and really easy to make ourselves… but this one-“ Her hair tapped on a collection of chemicals on the bottom of the list. “There’s a decent amount of this in it. Some of these combinations I’ve never seen before, and I don’t know-“ 

“Oh.” Hordak said as he instantly recognized the chemicals he was looking at. Deep, deep inside, a spark of panic raced through him. “This makes sense.” He said simply. He took Entrapta’s hand, kissed the back of it, then gently pried her off of him. “Pardon me.” 

“Hordak?” She backed off as he stood up and walked over to the cabinets over the sink. “What’s wrong?”

He opened the cupboard and started looking. He could feel what he could only describe as a little tiny him buried deep inside his mind panicking, worrying, angry. A mess of emotions. He’d have to explain this fast before that was all released, before they caught up to him- before they started feeling raw. 

“That.” He said simply, “Is a drug that’s commonly known in the outer universe as PermaFrost.” He found the botte he was looking for - it had a label in his language, and was filled with a thick, yellow liquid. “It inhibits the brain’s ability to absorb most hormones. In Layman's terms, it freezes you. Makes your feelings small and distant-“

“Like you’ve been.” 

“Like I’ve been.” He confirmed. He opened the bottle, and drank the entire thing. When he was done, he gently placed the bottle in to be recycled, and leaned against the counter. 

“So.. this’ll fade off right?” 

“Yes. But it’s going to take a bit.” He ran the numbers in his head as quickly as he could, “A couple of days at least. Hopefully we can reduce that. If I can get something in me to clean it out…but that’s going to be on you, Entrapta.” 

“Why me?” She asked, Her hair puffing up around her as she lunged forward on her hair and clutched at Hordak’s arm, “Why just me? Why won’t you be helping?” 

“Because I’m about to get very very sick. As soon as you can, get us back to our room… And Entrapta?”

“Yes?”

“.... No matter what I say, in the next few days, please don’t leave me alone.” He said before he gagged, doubled over, and started to vomit violently into the sink. 

  
  
  



	57. Justify

T1 and DH carefully snuck through the old warehouse in Underground on a planet commonly known as Hextaval. It was a small planet, and for many many years the civilians started to build cities over cities, eventually creating the surface cities and the underground cities. The Underground cities quickly became the planet’s collective slums. 

It wasn’t a great planet, but it was where they had been assigned for their patrol. Every clone had to spend time out in the universe on patrol. It was supposed to help them learn about the rest of the universe first hand, but more importantly it added to the Horde’s presence in even the smaller parts of the universe. 

The Underground was also a hub for crime, and as this moment, a center point for the creation and export of a dangerous drug by the name of Perma Frost. While this normally would have been a job for the planet’s law enforcement, they were expected to get involved since Horde Prime seemed to have a specific interest in controlling this drug that had spread across the universe. Prime seemed determined to end it’s production in the universe. 

T1 ran silently over the cluttered floor, carefully stepping over garbage and debris that might have created a noise or tripped them up. It was dark, but their eyes could easily see in low-light situations, and their sonar abilities gave them an idea of what was waiting well ahead. 

They stopped in the shadows of a pile of old shipping crates. T1 rested their hand on one of them, then recoiled as a collection of ten legged insects crawled out of it. They shuddered, took a step back, and watched the people ahead. They held out a hand to signal for DH to stop. 

A gentle hand on T1’s shoulder. They turned, and saw DH frantically signing to them. 

‘I think there’s civilians there’ HD signed - worry- -anxiety- 

‘Of course there are’ T1 replied - irritation- ‘that’s why we’re here.’

‘No, I mean there’s non-criminal elements.’ Frustration. They pointed into the crowd of people who were working around large distillers, then pointed to their ears. 

T1 focused, and listened. Yes. They understood now, there were two, perhaps three civilians moaning in pain. T1 felt their ears pin back in rage. 

‘I’ll pursue the targets. You check on the civilians. I’ll return when the enemy is dealt with.’

‘Understood’ 

‘Got the purgatives?’

Dh nodded and pulled a bottle of yellow liquid out of their satchel. T1 nodded and pulled out his multigun, putting it to a non-lethal setting

‘Good. On count. One. Two-‘ 

They signed for three, and they bolted from the shadows. There were five of the planet’s primary species there - a race of blue skinned, four armed bipeds- who looked up as they heard them approach. Their reflective eyes widened as they shouted to one another and bolted, scattering into the darkness.

“Halt. Stay where you are and surrender.” T1 shouted. They didn’t listen. They never did, but it was procedure to say it. 

T1 fired their gun without slowing their pace, three shots, three hits, three cries of pain as the shock from the hit raced through their bodies leaving them knocked out and temporarily paralized. The other two raced into the darkness. 

Behind them, DH approached the others on the ground in pain, “are you alright.” They said, their voices strongly monotone in Universal Common, “Can you respond-“ 

T1 Knew that they wouldn’t respond as they dashed off after one of the two that had escaped. People who took Perma Frost never responded when they were coming down. They were in too much pain, and they were far too emotional. Best to just give them the purgative, and get as much out as possible to limit the long term muscular damage. 

T1 ran back into the shadows. They saw one of their targets hiding in what they probably thought was a great hiding place in the darkness, but they were sitting in plain sight to T1 who shot them quickly before moving on. They had lost track of the second target, but using their echolocation they could find them. They must have had a shortcut to a higher level of the warehouse because they were above them, making noise on the old, condemned floor. 

Wasting no time, T1 pressed a button on their boots, revealing their toes as they jumped up on a collection of old crates and using their strong hands and grasping feet they were able to climb with great speed up the crates and onto the next floor though a hole that seemed to have formed some years ago. They had to jump to avoid getting cut up by the edges, but they made it. They closed up their boots again, listened, and located the target who was running right for them. 

Their ears flicked in amusement, and they waited hidden behind some boxes. The target approached and T1 stepped out of the darkness almost lazily, and fired their multigun, hitting the target in the chest. They convulsed, and fell to the ground. T1 crouched down, and put them in energy cuffs. 

“You should have surrendered.” T1 said in Universal Common before the target passed out. 

It wasn’t long before T1 went back to retrieve the others, and had them cuffed and in a pile back in their workplace. They sent a call out to the local authorities for pickup, then went to check on DH. Three other blue skinned people were curled up in pain on the ground, buckets full of vomit nearby. Apparently, DH had to restrain one who was straining against the energy cuffs, spewing off creative curses, shouting somebody’s name, and occasionally resorting to snarls. The other was unconscious, laying down in recovery, her arm propped against her head so she wouldn’t choke on vomit. The third one sat on the ground, crying into DH’s chest. Occasionally, they’d start throwing up, but go right back to crying. DH allowed them to cry into them- seemingly unbothered. T1 didn’t know how they did it; they wouldn’t have a clue how to deal with such emotional civilians.

<<I had to cuff that one.>> -pity- Dh pointed to the one straining against their cuffs, <<They were getting violent. The other one seemed to fall into fear, and passed out. This one..>>

T1 crouched down, then recoiled and stood up as the victim turned away from DH and threw up in the bucket again. 

<<Could you get anything out of them?>>

<<Same story>> -Pity- angry- <<Someone slipped them Perma Frost in their food, or their drink, and when the withdrawl came.. Well, they could manage the symptoms for a short while, but they didn’t want the other stuff.>>

<<How’s this one?Are they badly damaged?>>

<<The legs.>>

T1 walked around the victim, and got a better look at their legs. They didn’t look good at all - the muscles had shrunk and tightened around them, and the skin was puckered up in places. T1 glanced at the others, but they didn’t seem as bad, the angry one’s hand was twisted up, but that was all they could see.

<<That one must have been caught a while ago. Probably was on Perma Frost for years.>>-pity-guilt- T1 would be lying if they said they didn’t feel guilty. They had found an informant, and got the information they needed to catch their targets tonight. Their targets must have known someone had said something, and cut some people that they suspected might have turned on them off from their fix. 

<<Let’s get them to a med center when the authorities arrive.>> T1 said, <<Try to pump their blood in case there’s more in their system. The less they take in, the less the muscles will absorb, the less the drug will damage when the body tries to use it again once it’s out of their system.>>

<<Why is this even a thing!>> - anger- confusion- <<I understand the point of most other drugs. Why bother with one that can do so much damage!>> - rage- <<who would even create this!>>

<<Unknown>> T1 replied, <<Potentially, it was created as a method of control, if muscular degeneration was the point, or it was created to help people numb their emotions if that’s the point. Difficult to tell at this point which was the goal of this.>> -anger-. They looked around. The people they had arrested were likely addicted to this stuff, but happy for it. Some people wanted to go on this stuff as it was supposed to give them distance from their emotions. T1 was glad that they weren’t so susceptible to their emotional states. 

But the victims who had been drugged and manipulated with the fear of the long term physical damage. 

<<I’ve no idea who made it.>>T1 said, their ears flicking with rage and disgust, <<But they’re a monster, whoever they are.>>

==============

Entrapta was angry again. Hordak could understand why, he had been an idiot. He had been throwing up for a good few minutes, then had to sit and sip water until his body stopped shaking. As he recovered a little, he told her about Perma Frost, and what it could do. “I’m sorry.” He said softly, “I didn’t even consider that there was any kind of drug in the rations, I -“

“Why would you think there was anything in them!” Entrapta said, her hair puffed up, her fists clenched, “You’ve eaten them for years. Why would you have any reason to believe that Horde Prime would have drugged you! Drugged all of you!” 

“In hindsight, the muscular degeneration over the years following my crash landing on Etheria should have given me a hint, but I was unaware that I had ever ingested this. At the time, I considered my emotional state after my landing here to be a result of circumstances, and not-“ 

“Stop.” Entrapta said, turning away from him. Before she did, he could see tears in her eyes. Great. He had made her cry. Again. 

“I’m sorry-“ 

“It.. it’s not your fault.” Entrapta said, “I just hate hearing you like that. Like.. you’re not you! You should be angry! You should be upset! I’d be happier if you were screaming and cursing on Prime, but you…” Her hair wrapped around her. “You should be angry at him.” 

“Prime… I do not agree with-“ 

“Hordak” 

“-With this act… but it makes sense as a control measure for an entire army if that was his intent. If the emotional suppression was the intent, then it makes sense as that would keep-“ 

“Hordak!”

“-individuals from suffering under the effect of the conditioning, so-“ 

“No!” She turned on him, grabbing his arms, “No. No, you’re not going to justify this!” She shook him, “What he’s done, it’s… It’s wrong! All of it! Why he did it doesn’t matter! His reasoning doesn’t matter!”

He frowned. To be honest, that screaming part of him deep inside wanted to agree with her. It wanted to scream and cry and yell, but that wouldn’t do anything right now. 

Entrapta lifted herself up to his height, “Hordak… You know that, right? You know what he’s been doing is wrong, right? What he did to you, you know it’s all wrong, right?”

Hordak suppressed a sigh, “You…. You just don’t understand.” He said. 

“Hordak…” Her hair grew limp, her expression dropped. 

“Horde Prime made me.” He said, “He made me to be his tool.” He shook his head, “And I would have been his tool, but I was-“ He trailed off. 

“Hordak, don’t you dare say you’re defective.” 

Defective. He was though. He was defective because… Because why?

Much of what he had considered his defect so far turned out to be either just a part of what his species was supposed to be, or a result of withdrawal. What was his defect exactly? 

Hordak turned back to the counter, “I want to run a test.” He said, releasing himself from Entrapta’s grip. 

“What kind of test?”

“A DNA test, to start.” He said, “I figured that my defect was genetic in some way, and figured that it was responsible for my physical degeneration, but now…” He shook his head. 

But now, He didn’t know what his defect was. He didn’t know why he had been in pain. He didn’t know why Horde Prime had sent him away. 

“Whatever is wrong with me, I have to deal with it.” He said, “And maybe it can be fixed.” He opened a drawer, took a sterile cotton swab from a paper wrapping, swabbed the inside of his mouth, then set it into a small device near the computer. 

“.. that’s it?”

“That’s it.” Hordak said. “When it’s done, I can compare it to the clone that was broken down in here, and it’s possible that Horde Prime’s files will have data on the genetic sequencing when I break into that. I need comparative data- I wasn’t able to find anything just by examining my own DNA without a control sample.” 

Entrapta stared at Hordak, then sighed and flopped onto the stool next to him. She leaned forward, and looked up at him. “So.” 

“So?”

“This Perma Frost,” she let her hair twist around her as she considered the information Hordak had given her. To be fair, it had been a lot. “First effect. Emotional suppression. The body still produces hormones that affect emotion, but the brain can’t absorb them as much.” 

“Correct.” 

“The hormones are still there, but they… uh.. they flood the brain? Because they have nowhere to go?”

“They can be worked out of the system over time, but for the most part yes, the brain is flooded with hormones it can’t use.”

“Right. As well, the excess drug is stored in the muscles, not the fat.” 

“And when the body tries to use it’s stockpile when it stops receiving the drug, it damages the muscles. Permanently.” 

Entrapta’s eyes flicked over Hordak’s armor. Hordak had already gone over the numbers in his head. To do the damage that the drug had done to him over time, he had to have been receiving the drug back when he was still in incubation, and given the progression of his degeneration, it was less likely that it was all worked out of his system, and more likely that his body just stopped needing it. He still had plenty stored in his muscles by his calculations, and that could prolong his withdrawal symptoms, and damage him more. This of course caused that little voice deep inside to panic, but doing that at this point wouldn’t help. 

“So… when you start to detox.. you’re gonna be in a lot of pain.” 

Hordak crouched down next to her, and rested his forehead against hers. He wanted to make her feel better somehow, but he didn’t know how. She wasn’t angry at him, apparently. “It’ll pass.” He assured her. 

“And...you’re going to get really sad.” 

“And angry. And happy. And… everything.” This was going to be a problem. He didn’t want to get angry at Entrapta. He didn’t think he would. If she was with him he was certain it would go easier. “Basically, whatever I’ll feel, I’ll feel more. And I’ll have less ability to maintain my composure.” He frowned. “Which… is why I want you around. If I’m going to go through that, I want to be happy.” He figured that the spa day, the effect of the flowers, and the alcohol in Mystacor, along with Entrapta’s presence had kept him from feeling particularly awful back then when the spa and the drinks had helped push the drug out of his system, but now that he knew what was happening, he couldn’t be assured that he’d still feel alright as the drug was worked out of his system. 

Entrapta gave a little smile, looked up, and gave him a quick kiss, “Ok.” She whispered. She leaned in and wrapped her hair around him, “I’m going to stay with you.” 

“Thank you.” 

“...Hordak?” She pulled back, and looked at him, this heartbreaking look on her face, “You… You don’t think that Horde Prime, and what he did. You don’t think he’s right, do you? You know he’s done awful things to you, right?”

He wanted to say yes, because he knew that that was what she wanted to hear.

But….

“... Entrapta. I am willing to fight Horde Prime for you. Without question. It doesn’t matter if I think he’s right, or if I think he’s wrong. I’d rather die than be without you.” Deep inside, that part of him that he could hear just a little louder was absolutely mortified that something so sappy had come from his mouth. No matter. “But Horde Prime has unified the known universe. What would have been all out intergalactic war has been reduced to insurgency and minor rebellion.” He frowned, “Say what you will about his methods, he’s saved a lot of lives through this.” 

“But what he’s doing… he’s a tyrant, he-“ 

“Most of the planets are allowed to continue as they wish. The logistics of being involved in the ruling of every known planet in the universe? That’s not reasonably achievable. No. Horde Prime has representatives on each planet, who answer to the representative of their solar system, who answer to the representative of their galaxy, then the representative of their section of their local cluster-“ 

“I get it.” She said, a low, unenthusiastic chuckle coming from her mouth.”

“Right.” Hordak closed his eyes and leaned into her again, “For the most part, the planets continue on, but they’re more connected to the rest of the universe, and for the most part have greater access to the advances of the rest of the universe.” 

“But what he does to you-“ 

“.. Entrapta, I was not made to be a person.” He frowned, “I was created to be a tool with a purpose. As far as prime is concerned, I am a broken tool.” He shrugged, “By his logic, what he did to be was merciful, if it had worked properly. If I hadn't landed here.” 

“He’s wrong.” Entrapta said, holding him tightly, “It doesn’t matter what he wanted you to be; You are who you are. You’re a person! You’re your own person! And how he’s treated you-“ She started crying softly, shaking her head against his. 

Hordak frowned, pulled her close, and held her to him as he stroked her hair gently. He wanted to make her feel better. He didn’t want her to be sad about something so unimportant. He’d talk to her about this again when this had more or less worked its way out of his system since she seemed to hate how he was speaking right now and the very last thing he wanted to do was upset her more.


	58. Assistance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Well, my work is shut down to help stop the spread of the blight, and that means I have more time to write! Now, originally I intended to build up a backlog of a few chapters, but I figured I could do my part to keep peeps entertained by putting out an extra few chapters until I go back to work!
> 
> Enjoy!

Hordak didn’t necessarily want to explain himself to anyone. He was used to simply saying to his subordinates that if he needed time undisturbed that they were not to disturb him. If they disturbed him, there would be consequences, and that was normally all he had to do. But that was back in the Fright Zone, when he was Lord Hordak. 

Now he was just Hordak, and he was in Bright Moon. He had to give some explanation as to why he’d spend the next few days isolating himself as much as possible. That was why he was currently in the Throne Room of Bright moon before Queen Glimmer, Bow and Adora who were keeping her company, and Frosta. He didn’t know why Frosta was there. He supposed it didn’t matter. 

“So, to recap,” He said after he had given them all the information that he figured they’d need. “I’ve been drugged - due to my own stupidity-“ 

“Which, honestly, could have happened to anyone.” Entrapta said, cutting in. “I mean, if you went down to the kitchens of Bright Moon and ate a cupcake, would you have any reason to think it’s been drugged?”

“-And I need to get the drug out of my system as fast as possible, or risk further long-term effects to my body.” 

“So that explains why you’ve been all weird lately.” Frosta said as she stared up at him. Hordak glanced down at the young princess. 

“Excuse you?”

“Your ears normally flick and stuff a lot more. They don’t now. And you don’t sound the same.” She frowned as she looked at him. Hordak tilted his head at her; Hewas frankly surprised that she noticed he had been different at all. 

“You’re talking more like that clone that was in my throne room the other day.” Glimmer said, frowning. 

“I know!” Entrapta said, pacing behind him, “That’s what I’ve been saying! He’s not emoting like he normally does!” Her hair wrapped around him, “His ears don’t twitch, he’s not talking with his hands as much, he’s gone monotone-“ 

“All things I really should have noticed myself.” Hordak added, “I apologize for the inconvience my recover-“ 

“Sir- Lor- Uh. Hordak!” Adora took a step forward, still a little unsure, but she moved anyway, “You can hardly be expected to notice these things if you’ve been drugged.” She said, “Horde Prime shouldn’t have drugged those rations, and -“ she trailed for a moment as two plus two equaled four in her head, “Oh my god.” She said, suddenly horrified, “Horde Prime… has he been drugging all his clones?”

“It seems so.” Hordak said, “To improve efficiency or control, I am not sure -“ 

“Does he do this to everyone who surrenders to him!” Frosta demanded, standing up, “Or everyone he conquers!? If we lose, I don’t want to be drugged!” 

Hordak shook his head, “No. In fact, Horde Prime went through great pains to keep this drug out of the hands of the common civilians.” This brought up more questions he would tuck away now though, Did Horde Prime make the drug? And if so, did he himself release it to the common public, or was it released by someone else? If it was released by someone else, who did it?

“He only drugged the clones.” Adora said, horrified. She turned to Glimmer, “Glimmer… No, this isn’t just about Etheria anymore.” She took a step towards the queen, “We have to stop him!” 

“He’s actually a decent ruler.” Hordak cut in, “Yes, if he does conquer Etheria, then the heads of the rebellion will die. But Etheria will be connected to the rest of the universe, and have access to unimaginable technology, as well as being-“ 

“No!” Adora, Frosta, and Entrapta all shouted at him. They looked at one another, then Adora took a step forward to speak, “No. Sir, What he’s done is wrong. If he’s doing it to the universe or only to his clones, it’s wrong.” She turned to Glimmer, “Glimmer, From what Hordak’s told us, he’s basically brainwashed and enslaved an entire race to fight for him!”

Enslaved? It wasn’t slavery, Horde Prime made them for a purpose. Hordak was about to say something, but Entrapta used her hair to silence him. 

Glimmer was deep in thought. “... I thought we had to kill all the clones.” She said. 

“Isn’t there a way we can save them?” Adora asked, turning to Hordak. 

In truth…. he had been wondering the same thing. “I don’t think so.” He said. “Hypothetically, even if we kill Horde Prime, the clones won’t stop their actions. And Prime has a backup body on his mothership. If we kill him, his consciousness gets sent to the mothership, and is implanted into the new body. We’d have to go to the mothership to stop that, and -“

“I really want to see that one though!” Entrapta cut in, “I’ve gone over every possibility in my head, and I can’t think of how he could manage that.” 

“-unless the clones are all neutralized, they will revive him as he’s ordered. And if we try to go to the mothership to kill the backup body we’ll be stopped by his troops. I assure you that outside of Etheria, against the full force of the Horde army, any resistance you can manage will be consumed by the Horde army like a drop of water in an ocean.” 

“Ok. Is there a way to neutralize them?” Adora asked. “I mean, you’re working on something with that implant, and that controls their minds, right? Can’t you just… put them to sleep?”

Hordak shook his head, “It doesn’t control their minds. It can relay commands, and it records information.”

“Well… well isn’t there a way to snap them out of this?!””

There was that strange feeling again. Like he was deep inside himself, enraged. “I assure you, this isn’t something to “snap out” of. The minds of the clones have been altered and adjusted to better suit Horde Prime’s needs.” He shook his head, “The best I’ve gotten so far has just been to make the implant short-circuit near the medulla-“ Hordak cut himself off. They probably won't be well versed in biology. “The control center, basically, of the brain. The part that makes the heart beat, and stomach digest. All the things you do without thinking about… that’s all I’ve managed to think of, but that would kill them.” 

“This… we can talk about this later.” Glimmer said, frowning. She looked at Hordak, “It’s honestly disconcerting hearing you talk about all this like that.” 

“Why?”

Glimmer looked at him, angry. Why was she angry? “Because you shouldn’t be just… accepting this! You should be mad!” 

“... I think I am.” He said after a moment, “but I just don’t feel that right now.” 

She slumped back into her throne. “Alright.” She said, “So.. you’re going to detox.” She said. 

“Yes.” 

“And you’ll be very sick.” 

“Correct.” 

“And what happened to your body that made you need all that armor might happen to the rest of you.”

“It’s a highly likely possibility.” 

Glimmer sighed, “Alright. I guess after you’re detoxed, we’ll get you and Entrapta the materials to make new armor. Hopefully you can do it with what we have here, and -“ 

“Wait.” Bow said. He had been silent all this time, but now he spoke, “If that’s the case… why not just have Adora heal you when this is all done?”

Entrapta spoke up, “Because we’re worried about the interference between Adora’s magic and-“ 

“Yeah, I know, I get that.” He took a step forward, “But if this is all caused by the drug, and not your genetics like you said before, then if your ports come out it doesn’t matter, right?” He turned to Adora, “If Adora can heal the new damage this does to your body, and the old damage… you won’t need the armor at all, right?”

Hordak was about to protest, but Bow was right. Hordak himself hadn’t even thought of using her magic at this point, he had dismissed it so entirely in his mind. He fell silent as he considered this. The damage done to his body apparently wasn’t genetic, it was caused by the drug. If Adora could fix it, he indeed wouldn’t need his armor anymore. Much like magical transportation, he didn’t know if he liked magical healing, but if it worked, it might be worth the risk.

“Hey now.” Adora said, “I don’t know if I can heal old damage like that.” 

“Maybe Shadow Weaver knows how to do it.” Bow said, “She taught you how to use your sword to heal people in the first place.” 

Glimmer waved her hand, “We can deal with all that later.” She said. She turned to Hordak, “Let’s look at the more immediate issue. What will you need from us.” 

Need? Why would he need anything? “I just need time to recover.” He said. 

“But I mean like… any foods you’d like that might help? Drinks? More blankets? Less blankets?”

“Will you need something to do while you’re sick?” Frosta asked. 

“He doesn’t like tiny soup when he’s unwell.” Entrapta said, “I tried that. He didn’t like it.” 

“Ok, but what about-“ 

“I assure you.” Hordak said, “I can recover just fine on my own, given time.” 

“Yes… but is there anything that might make it easier?” Glimmer leaned forward, “Anything to make you more comfortable? From what you said…” She looked away, “It’s going to be hard.” 

Oh. They wanted him to be… comfortable? Why? Entrapta wanting him to be comfortable, he could understand, Entrapta actually cared about him. He silently considered the question; Was there anything that might alleviate the pain? 

“... The physical pain will be something that must be borne.” He said, “But.. The other symptoms would be made easier to deal with if I have distractions- I’d like to continue my work. That will keep my mind occupied. All I need is time-“ 

“Oh!” ENtrapta snapped her fingers, “What about some of that tea from Mystacor?” She looked up at Hordak, “That seemed to get it out of your system faster, AND you didn’t have such bad withdrawal symptoms.” 

“That may work to speed the process.” He said, “But I think the alternative drugs I was exposed to- the alcohol and the strange flowers -simply affected how my body processed the Perma Frost, and kept my mind in a fog. I can’t go back to Mystacor until this is out of my system because I’ll need to know when it’s all out of my system and for that I’ll need my mind to be otherwise unaffected. Otherwise I’d suggest several rather potent drugs that are easily available here on Etheria that would put me in a blissed out daze for days.” 

Frosta snickered, drawing Hordak’s gaze. She shrugged. “Sorry.” She says, “A daze for days. You made a pun.” 

“Unintentional, I assure you.” He said. 

“Alright.” Glimmer said, “You go to your room. Rest. Work if that distracts you. We’ll check on you to see how you’re feeling and if you need anything.” Hordak opened his mouth to protest, but Glimmer raised a hand, “THAT… is non-negotiable.” 

Entrapta wrapped her hair around his waist, and took him by the hand, “He appreciates it.” She said, “I mean, he probably wouldn’t say it now becuase of the whole being drugged thing, and even if he was himself he’d have a lot of trouble expressing his gratitude, but he is grateful! Anything else you can think of to help… well, I’ll be trying to look into the chemical makeup of this and try to figure out a way to get it out of him faster!” She looked up at him. “I miss my Hordak.” 

Hordak forced a smile. He knew he should smile, and he knew that he was touched by her words, he just wasn’t reacting to it like he should have been.

He knew that he was grateful for the needless concern of the others, He just wasn’t used to it. 

“That’s how I know he’s sick.” Frosta said, “Entrapta said something sappy, and his ears didn’t do the thing.” 

Hordak glanced over to her, “The thing?” He asked. 

“You know. When your ears go down like a sad dog’s ears, and they turn blue. The thing.” She tilted her head, “We all figured that’s how you blush.” She watched him for a moment, then groaned, “See! Normally that would get you doing it.” 

To his side, Entrapta gave a little chuckle, “They’re paying attention to you.” She said. 

“I admit surprise that they noticed.” He said, “Normally the movements of my ears go unnoticed by everyone.” 

“That’s kinda hard to miss if anyone pays even passing attention to you.” Glimmer said. She stood up, “Ok. I’m going to have something sent up for you to eat, since apparently you forced yourself to throw up everything-“ 

“Please, Just plain fruit. I still feel slightly nauseated.”

“-And I’ll see if we can get that tea, I’ll have that sent up to you.” 

Hordak nodded, and let Entrapta lead him out of the throne room. 

“Do you think he’ll be ok?” He heard Bow whisper to Adora.

“None of this is ok. And I don’t think he has been for a while.” 

He didn’t know what she meant by that. He supposed it was because he had been injured, and ill, and before that without Entrapta in the Fright Zone and thanks to the truth spell the others had a decent idea of how that had affected him. He wanted to call out that he’d be fine, but didn’t bother. He’d have to remind them how sensitive his ears were later though so they didn’t try to whisper around Horde Prime.

================

“I don’t need to be in bed.” Hordak insisted. 

“But you’re going to be in pain, and I want you to be comfortable!” 

Entrapta had done several things the moment they got into their room. First, she sat Hordak down on the bed, then she took off his armor and took out the strappy armor that they saved for when they were intimate. Her reasoning was that it was more comfortable, and would be easier for him to wear for long periods and might reduce the pain he’d feel. She removed his clothes, put the straps over him and then she put him into his night clothes. 

It seemed that even though it was still relatively early, she was trying to put him to bed. He was allowing it - she could overpower him with her hair without issue- but he wasn’t in pain yet, and he didn’t need to be bedridden, the pain would come in waves, he just needed to be able to get to the floor and ride it out when that happened. 

“For the time, this is entirely needless.” 

“I want you to be comfortable!” She said as she put an extra blanket over him. She had asked the guards for more blankets and pillows when they got back, and currently had Hordak reclined in a soft next on the bed. “I want you to be as comfortable as you can, and if there’s anything you need-“

“I will need distractions.” He insisted, “I need to work, Entrapta. I need to have my mind made busy, and I can work on the replication of the implant.” He shook his head, “Please, go to the lab-ship-“ 

“You told me not to leave you alone, no matter what!” 

“Just quickly grab me the pieces of the implant.” He insisted, “And my notes. I think I left my Data Pad there. I can work on that from here at least if I have some kind of surface to work over.” He watched her worried expression, “I won’t be alone.” He insisted as he gestured to Imp who was currently getting very comfy in the pile of blankets and pillows, “Imp is here. If anything were to happen, he’s more than capable of getting help.” 

Her hair was twisting about herself as she considered if she should leave him for just a moment to grab the implant. She was startled out of her thoughts by a sudden knock on the door. She turned, and pulled the door open. 

Shadow Weaver strode into the room, carrying a satchel over one shoulder. Entrapta was shocked at her presence, and didn’t keep her from coming in. 

Shadow Weaver walked up to the foot of the bed, regarded Hordak in his nightgown, reclining in a nest of blankets and pillows, then shook her head. 

“I can’t believe I was afraid of you.” She muttered. 

“Indeed.” Hordak said, “If you’ve a reason to be here, then say so. Otherwise-“ 

“That’s rather rude, especially since I’m here to help.” She rested her hand on the satched, “Though, You might not like it.” 

“How are you going to ‘help’.” Entrapta demanded, her hair puffing up around her. 

Shadow Weaver walked up to the foot of the bed, and set down the satchel. She started pulling jars out and setting them down. “Adora came to me asking about the healing of older damage. Using her sword, and with some training I think it can be done. It’ll be an experiment. I was rather intrigued at the potential for this, but I was informed that it might take several before we can test it.” She took out a strange, circular censer, made a complicated gesture over it, and it grew three legs that allowed Shadow Weaver to set it on the floor. “I recalled a spell I had studied years ago, which can work to speed up things such as sickness, infection… or even poisoning.” She looked up to Hordak, “I can use this spell on you, and reduce the time you end up suffering while your body works this out of your system.”

“I see.” Hordak said. Shadow Weaver couldn’t necessarily be trusted, she had turned on him, but to be fair he had been planning to send her to Beast Island. She had fled and it was difficult for him to blame her for that. 

“Did Princess Glimmer send you?” He asked. 

“She did not, actually.” She opened up the censor, and started filling it with contents from the jars she had taken out. “I was only told to help Adora find a way to heal you after this is all done. I suggested to Queen Glimmer that I might have a way to speed your healing up.” 

“And why did you say I’d not like it?” He asked. He assumed it was because he’d be accepting help from Shadow Weaver, and he didn’t necessarily like being around her. 

“Because while this will speed things up, the effects will still be complete.” She didn’t sound concerned or bothered by this fact, “Any pain you’d suffer in… say three hours, I might be able to reduce it to a single hur, but pain is going to be worse then, because you’re suffering the same amount of pain in a shorter time frame.” She finished closing up the censor and turned to Hordak, “As well, to make this truly ironic, I’ll have to perform a… stress test of sorts. To see how much pain you can actually take so I know how much I can speed this up by-“ 

“You want to put him in pain now?” Entrapta said, her hair twisted around her as she hovered between Shadow Weaver and Hordak, just over the bed. Imp jumped in front of her, his little arms out protectively.

“.... I won’t pretend I”m not slightly enjoying it - he’s put me through pain before.” She glanced over at him, “But the intent isn’t to cause him pain, that’s just a happy side effect. The intent is to see how fast I can make this go.” 

“No, I won’t -“ 

“Let her.” Hordak said. Entrapta stopped, and turned to him, confused. “I want this over with as soon as possible.” He said. He didn’t want her worrying about him for longer than she absolutely had to. 

“But what if it’s a trick.” 

“I was going to ask you to confirm with Queen Glimmer first.” He said. “If it’s a trick, she’d not have mentioned anything to anyone else. She’d also be unlikely to go over all this while you’re here.” He turned to Shadow Weaver, “Once Entrapta has confirmation from Glimmer, you can proceed.” 

Shadow Weaver tilted her masked face at him, “I admit, I’m surprised.” She said, “I expected you to say no to this. I expected you to think I was planning to poison you myself.” 

“I see very little reason you would.” Hordak said, “I’m unsure what benefit you’d have to my death at this moment- Horde Prime likes magic less than I do, so you’d not stand to gain anything by trying to work with him. If I did die from your treatments, at this point you’d, even if Glimmer chose not to blame you, you’d be viewed with suspicion over the incident.” He shrugged, “At this time, and in this manner, attempting to kill me like this doesn’t make much sense.” 

Shadow Weaver regarded him silently for several long moments. “Well. At the very least, this drug makes you far more logical.” 

“That’s the point. I think. One of them anyway” 

============

Entrapta did leave quickly to get the implant Hordak wanted, and to check with Glimmer. Glimmer confirmed that Shadow Weaver had mentioned the spell to her, and if Hordak was fine with it, that she could go ahead. 

The censor was at the foot of the bed, unlit.That was apparently an important part of the spell, and she couldn't use it until she had done her little stress test.

“Ready, Hordak?”

“Just do it.” He said. Entrapta was near him, holding him gently with her hair to calm him. Deep down, he could feel the panic, and even the fear. She was going to push him and see just how much pain he could take. 

Entrapta took a damp cloth, and held it to his mouth. He took it, he’d need something to bite down on so he didn’t chip a tooth. 

Shadow Weaver nodded, and made a complicated gesture before him, drawing two strange symbols in the air. One she sent to Horak, the other she had her hand over, somewhat like a dial. 

She started turning the magical dial slowly. It took a moment before he felt any pain, but then it was pain he could ignore. She turned it up in tiny intervals, and the pain grew worse and worse. He flinched, He bit down on the rag, forcing water to dip down his chin.

It suddenly started to feel like his blood was freezing- sharp, horrible pain growing through his whole body. He whimpered, thinking he could take this, then he cried out in pain, twisting to the side. Entrapta held him, keeping him from rolling off, keeping him from thrashing. 

The pain increased. He forgot that he was doing this for a reason. If Entrapta hadn’t been holding him down he might have attacked Shadow Weaver. If he could have moved, that was. 

The cries of pain turned into ragged screams of pain. Two vocal chords, then three, high pitched and frantic, feral and wild, the pain coursing through him and driving out everything else. 

Then it was like a switch was flicked, and everything went black. When he came to later on the censor was burning, and Shadow Weaver was making strange gestures over the smoke, muttering as she did it. Entrapta was sitting on the bed, holding Hordak’s head in her lap, stroking his hair. 

“I’m Impressed.” Shadow Weaver said as she finished her spell, “I’m able to speed this up by five times. Most I’ve ever managed before was three.” 

Hordak relaxed into Entrapta without responding. He could still feel the echo of pain in his limbs. He’d have to get used to it for now. No matter how long this took, he was in for a lot of pain. 

  
  
  



	59. Mood Swing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! 
> 
> The second social distancing chapter! I hope you’re all staying at home and washing your hands! My introverted ass is doing well! Even getting a lot of work done on my original novel, so that’s good!. 
> 
> Nobody in my house is sick. 
> 
> I hope you’re all keeping occupied, keeping safe, and staying away from the peoples in the outer lands. 
> 
> Now... have more fic to keep you occupied.

Hordak was making much better progress than he expected to. Entrapta was sitting next to him, keeping a careful eye on him with her hair wrapped around his waist and over his shoulders as he worked away, drafting out the final pieces of the mechanical parts of the implant. When that was done, he could focus on the programming. That would be easier physically, which was why he was trying to rush through the process of physically recreating it first; He needed something that was mentally challenging, but also physically easy to do later on. He’d probably be in too much pain to put together the implant later, and without proper distractions his mind would start to drift, and letting his mind drift was not something that he wanted to do while detoxing off Perma Frost. 

The implant would need- 

Implant. Brain. Ears. Crash. 

Hordak’s fingers stilled suddenly on the keyboard as his breathing hitched.

Horde Prime cut the ears off the clones! He mutilated their brains! He put implants in their heads! How dare her. How dare her go into the minds of other- 

No. Not other clones. Healthy clones. Clones who weren’t defective. But he wasn’t defective either, was he? He didn’t know. He had to be, why else would he have been sent off! Why else would Horde Prime show such…. indifference to him. 

His hands were shaking. He took a deep breath to try to calm his hands but he couldn’t catch his breath. His eyes were starting to burn and water, his hands clenched into fists, shaking in frustration. 

He should be better than this. He had been a general. He had been the second in command to the leader of the whole universe, and now here he was, taking a rushed detox off Perma Frost, shaking, frustrated, he was about to cry. Damnit, why was he about to cry! These were not crying situations!

He growled and cursed in Chilacian as he banged his fists down on the table in absolute frustration. When that didn’t make him feel any better he doubled over on the table, pressing his face to the back of his hands as he felt a strangled sob escape from his throat.

Damn. Why was he crying? Why was he sad! 

Entrapta lifted his head up from the table and held him to her chest, her hair wrapping around him as she rocked him gently in what he presumed was some kind of calming technique for Etherians as she played with his hair. His ears flicked and burned with shame as he buried his face into her hair. 

Weak. He was so damn weak. He was designed to be better than this. Other clones didn’t break into tears. 

“Other clones don’t have to detox from that drug.” Entrapta whispered. He hadn’t realized that he had said that aloud. He wondered what else he had said aloud. “And you’re not weak.” She added after a moment. 

He tried to talk but it was all he could do to hold back more sobs. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly as thought he might fall away into space if he let go. 

“I need to work.” He managed to say after he had been holding onto her for a while, his voice shaking and frail, “I need to… I need to work-“ 

“Didn’t the work upset you?” She asked. He shook his head.

“It wasn’t the work.” He muttered, still shaking, the tears still falling from his eyes. 

Entrapta leaned forward, and kissed him on the forehead, then between the eyes, then she kissed away the tears on his cheeks before she gently kissed him on the lips. 

“It’s going to be ok.” She whispered as she pressed her forehead to his, “I got you.” 

His ears flicked back, embarrassed that she was seeing him like this, but he was happy now. A stupid grin flickered over his face as the sad chemicals that had flooded his brain, and which his brain had greedily devoured in the absense of the Perma Frost, was starting to get replaced by chemicals triggered by the attention of his mate, Entrapta’s affection, her hair on his skin, her words in his ear. His brain was flooded with all the emotions that-

-that Horde Prime had taken away from the other clones.

He leaned into her, his breathing heavy again, his ears twitching far too much as his brain was trapped between joy and sorrow. He pressed his face back into the curve of Entrapta’s neck. He’d stay here, he’d let her hold him, stroke his hair, and say nice things to him. He’d let her comfort him. If she did, maybe he’d be able to work again. Maybe he’d calm down until the next wave of emotions came, and he could get to work again with the tattered remains of his dignity. 

Dignity. What was that anymore? He found himself giving a quick, barking laugh as the comical nature of it all struck him - he had no dignity left. Why was he even worried? He was a hordak that got lost in combat, and then rutted with the native species of an unregistered planet. It was funny. 

She held him close, her hands going through his hair. He felt Imp crawl up on his lap and lean into his chest. Imp. He had made imp. He moved his arm and held imp close to him. He had been so damn lonely on this planet - that enough was funny, clones didn’t get lonely- that he had made himself a companion. Not that Imp had ever grown, Not that Hordak had gotten the cloning process right. He had used the exact same process that Horde Prime used, and he still couldn’t get it right. 

But it didn’t matter. He relaxed onto Entrapta, giving her a squeeze. Entrapta thought Imp was cute, and Hordak loved the little monster, flaws and all.

  
  


============

The newly dubbed “T1” was heading back to their bunk after they had finished their mandated work for the day. They’d shower, and perhaps try to study the new biotech report they had found. They found the whole subject interesting, and wanted to improve their understanding on it. Improving and perfecting the flesh, creating gods from base carbon matter; It was fascinating. It would also be a good way to get their head back where it needed to be. 

Today had been the first day they had worked with DH. That DH was a strange one. Not that DH had hidden that from them, they admitted that they were declared to be deviant, and that the clones in their last placement didn’t work well with them because they talked too much; because they touched too much; because they insisted on being called DH instead of by their call number.

T1 didn’t understand. None of these things bothered them at all. Should it have? If anything, they had enjoyed DH’s company more than they normally enjoyed the company of other clones. They had enjoyed listening to DH’s seemingly random observations that fell outside their work, and their preference for proximity didn’t make them uncomfortable. At least DH didn’t look at him weird when his ears flicked in response to DH’s feelings like most everyone else did. If anything, that seemed to put DH at ease. 

Maybe T1 was weird too, but at least it was just an odd quirk for them, not something that would be considered deviant. It didn’t cause the other clones to refuse to work with them.

They felt their ears flick down as they considered this. Somehow, for some reason, that made T1 feel sad, and their sudden sorrow confused them. Well, no matter. They’d go to their bunks, get a shower, get their books, and start studying. That would set them right. Maybe they’d even turn on the media and have some music on in the background- just for background noise, of course, and not because they enjoyed the soaring voices, the steady beats, the stories told in notes and tunes that nobody else seemed to be able to hear. 

<<05h41!>>

T1 turned around, pulled out of their thoughts as another clone came up to them. Each clone had their call number on their uniforms as most often they all looked exactly the same. A few clones had some variation in their appearance - generally in the shape and length of the ears. They were told that it was caused by gravitational influences of nearby planets while they were still developing in the vitrines. T1’s ears were like that - they were a little longer, a little thinner than normal. It made them easy to recognize. They noticed that DH’s ears were different too- slightly more rounded, slightly blunter at the tips, and less smoothe at the edge. They had to look at the pin for the number on the other clone’s uniform to see who they were. 

<<56n34.>>-indifference- curiosity- <<How can I help you.>>

<<I am told you worked with 70h67 today.>> - amusement-

<<I believe they prefer to go by ‘DH’>> - irritation- 

56n34 looked around, then took a step forward, <<Do you not find them very odd?>> - judgement- amusement

<<What do you mean?>> their ears pinned back, anger, a warning. 56n34 ignored it, there was nothing that T1 could do to them. 

<<I mean->> -slight excitement- <<You’re the 7th reassignment they’ve had this cycle.>>

<<Some take awhile to find their place>> - irritation. T1 continued to walk to their barracks. 

<<Finding their place wasn’t a concern>> the other clone said, walking to keep up with T1 <<They normally excelled at whatever they did->>

<<They learn fast.>> T1 agreed. 

<<But have you noticed how odd they are?>> - curiosity- amusement-mocking <<They don’t act like they should. They talk too much, and about things that don’t have anything to do with work.>>

<<I see.>>

<<And they’re always touching. And if you shrug them off, they get sad.>> -disdain-<<Frankly, they’re an embarrassment to the Horde. If I were in charge of their placement-“ 

T1 turned on them suddenly, their ears pinned almost to their head, their teeth showing. 56n34 took a step back, their ears ficking out in surprise at the sudden, uncharacteristic hostility. 

<<I’ll tell you what’s an embarrassment.>> T1 snapped, <<Your work. You used to work in programming before, do you have any idea how many of your mistakes I’ve had to waste my time fixing? Do you know how much shoddy programming I had to tear apart and fix?>> They took a step forward, a low growl echoing from the back of their throat, <<If I were you, I’d not be so quick to insult a perfectly capable and competent individual because they happen to be a little quirky! Quirks aren’t a reason for ridicule, your abject incompetence is!>>

56n34 took a step back, their ears flicking down, flushing with shame. 

<<I will say this once, and only once.>> T1 said, though they were confused as to why they took this so personally, why they got so angry, <<DH is perhaps the most competent individual I’ve worked with, and if anyone has an issue with them, they can speak to me.>>

<<And what will you do?>> Challenge- anger- defensive. 

<<I’ll tell them just what I told you.>> they said, <<What’s important is how capable they are, and I’ve not encountered many as capable as DH in as many different fields as you apparently claim. If you can’t overlook their quirks for their greater contribution to the Horde, then I’m frankly concerned that you, and everyone else who might have pushed them away might have risked great progress for the Horde for the sake of your own personal comfort.>>

56n34 looked like they were about to say something else, then with their ears down they left without saying anything more. 

T1’s ears were still pinned in anger, and they were breathing a little heavily. Why had they suddenly gotten so angry? They didn’t understand. 

A sound behind them, the clearing of a voice, the reverberation of two vocal chords. T1 turned and saw DH step out from around a corner. They were going to ask why DH was there, but then they glanced at the disc they had in their hands. It was T1s disc with the biotech information on it. 

<<You left this in the lab>> - embarrassment - gratitude- <<So I thought I’d bring it to you.>>

<<That was kind of you>> T1 said, their ears tilted down in embarrassment from their outburst being witnessed. 

DH looked down the hallway where 56n34 had gone, then looked at T1. 

<<Nobody has ever, -ever- defended me before>> -admiration-

<<I said nothing but the truth. You are capable and competent. I am glad to have you working with me.>>

DH’s ears perked up with joy at that, and T1 felt their own ears perk up too. They looked down at the disc, then back at DH. <<Do you have a fascination with Biotech?>>-curiosity-

<<I have a fascination with everything!>> - amusement. 

<<This way then>> T1 said. They led DH to the shared bunks. They were sure that T1 likely had a bunk somewhere in the same area, but it was such a large room, with bunk after bunk stacked on one top of the other, most accessible only by ladder. Each bunk was supposed to be a tiny little personal space - room to sit, retractable desks to work at, computers built into the walls. <<I am about to study some new research out of the Felixis Galaxy.>> they said, <<You are welcome to join me, if you wish.>>

HD followed T1 down the hall and then up a ladder, passing eight bunks until they got to T1’s own bunk. It was mostly empty as most others were, save for a small picture of a distant nebula stuck to an unused piece of wall. T1 booted up the computer, put the disk in, and loaded up the reports. Before they started reading they reached for the media player, then stopped. 

<<I… often have this on>> T1 admitted, their ears flicking down, <<For background noise. Do you mind?>>

<<Not at all.>>

T1 put the media player on, and the music started to pour out of the low-quality speakers. They started reading the report but after a few minutes, DH looked at the media player, their ears tilted down in slight sadness. T1 was about to ask what was wrong, but as DH’s eyes flicked to T1’s ears, their own twitched with understanding.

<<You hear it too, then?>> -hope-

<<Hear what?>>-defensive-

<<How… how some songs just feel happy or sad. Like they’re telling a story, even if there’s no words.>> -shame- <<Sorry. I just… that’s how I feel sometimes>>

T1 was amazed to hear their own thoughts that they had kept to himself echoed back so easily. Their ears were flicked out in surprise. 

<<That is odd.>> They admitted, <<That’s exactly how I feel.>>

================

Hordak thought the uncontrollable mood swings were the worst at first. Being fine one minute and being able to work in relative peace, and then the next dissolving into tears or laughter, or clutching at Entrapta because he was afraid she’d leave. He couldn’t even explain what he was feeling- maybe he could have normally but the spell that Shadow Weaver used to speed up the process made everything so much more intense that the moment he tried to explain anything, he’d be overcome and often just fall into quiet sobbing.

He didn’t need to explain anything when he was happy. Entrapta knew exactly what made him happy. 

Yes, the uncontrollable mood swings seemed to be the worst, but they came first. Two hours of sudden, uncontrollable mood swings was the prelude to the first wave of pain that hit him.

It started slowly, a dull discomfort that soon bloomed into a deep, intense pain which was very unlike the sensation of ice in his veins that he had when Shadow Weaver had cast her spell on him. This was like pressure all over his body, as though he was being crushed from all over. It had started on the tail end of a particularly bad mood swing, one that left him feeling drained, tired, and holding onto Entrapta. He ignored the pain at first but it grew quickly, leaving him gasping and moaning in agony as Entrapta held onto him. He could hear her heart rate increase, and she said something to him but he couldn’t make it out. 

She set him on the bed with her hair and he turned over to his side, curled up in a ball, his hands clutching at his head as he rocked back and forth with each ragged breath. 

He wanted to rip his head off. He wanted to bash his head against something to dull the pain. He pushed himself up against the headboard of the bed and pressed the top of his head into it until he felt Entrapta’s hair pull him away and hold him in place. 

Someone else was there. He heard a voice that was not Entraptas. He tried to calm his breathing so that he could hear. 

“-I told you, I set the spell according to the stress test. None of this will permanently hurt him… outside of damage done by the drug itself, which I don’t have any knowledge of.” It was Shadow Weaver. Why was she here? He didn’t want her here, seeing him writing in pain. Rage built up in him, and he tried to growl, to yell at her to get out but the pain hit him too hard and all he could manage was a low, agonized moan. 

“This is too much!” It was Entrapta. She sounded like she had been crying. 

Great. He had made her cry. Again. 

“This is too much! You can’t let him just suffer like this!” 

Another wave of pain overtook him. Hordak gave a feral cry of pain as he clutched at his head. He just had to wait this out. He just had to wait this out. Soon the pain would stop, and he’d have a rest for a little while. The pain always came in waves, highs and lows. He could manage this. 

“... I’ll turn it down.” Shadow Weaver said after the last feral cry echoed through the room. “I should be able to -“ 

“DON’T YOU DARE.” Hordak managed to scream, his voice distorted by the activation of his second set of vocal chords. The pain ran through him, and he curled himself up as small as he could, breathing heavily as finally, slowly, the pain subsided. Entrapta was at his side - he hadn’t noticed before- and was wiping off- was that blood?- from his head. 

Had he scratched himself?

“...Hordak, if the pain is too much for you to take, then I can turn this down-“ 

Hordak tried to push himself up to a sitting position, but his arms couldn’t support his weight and he fell into the soft pillows. He needed to catch his breath, rest a moment, then he’d get back to work

He needed to work, He wanted to keep his mind busy. That was the only thing keeping his mind grounded at the moment. 

“If you turn it down.” He hissed, “All you’re doing is prolonging this. I want this over with as soon as possible.” He looked up at Entrapta, “Don’t let her turn it down.” He said, “I’m going to be in pain no matter what. I can take this. I just want it done. I just..-“ he took a quick breath. Tears were welling in his eyes again. He turned his face into the blankets - he was not going to let Shadow Weaver see him in tears. “I just want to be normal again. I just… want to be your Hordak.” 

“...Well” Shadow Weaver said with a surprising lack of mocking in her voice, “I’ll be off them. If you change your mind, Entrapta knows where to find me.” 

And then she was gone, leaving Hordak alone with Entrapta and Imp. Entrapta held him close as his body stopped shaking from the pain, as his breath came back normally. Imp sat on the bed, leaning into his stomach and making a strange, humming chirp that Hordak had never heard him make before. 

The mood swings started to settle a little bit. He could feel his mind start to come out of the fog of emotions. Soon, he knew he’d be able to work again, at least until the next wave hit him. 

  
  
  
  



	60. Emotion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my favourite poppets!
> 
> New chapter today! I slept in this morning so it’s a little late ( I normally like to sleep on my chapters before I publish, so I can edit.) 
> 
> Hope you’re all keeping safe!!
> 
> A reminder, I’m taking prompts on my Tumblr, TheWitchOfTheRock, for the new fic I’ve created - “The Mini-adventures of Hordak and Entrapta” so head over and throw me a prompt!

“I assure you, I can bathe myself!” Hordak protested, his ears flat and blue as Entrapta undressed him with her hair. 

“I know.” Entrapta said idly as she ran the bath, making sure to fill it with bath salts and bubbles. “But you’re tired, you’re in pain, you’re covered in sweat and blood.” She gave him a smile that was just a little too wide, and honestly just a little scary, “And I want to help you!” 

Hordak realized quickly that there was no arguing with her. In truth, he didn’t necessarily want to argue with her… the last several hours had been brutal and he knew that he was just in a lull before the next wave of pain and torment hit him. At the moment, he was just coming down on a particularly bad wave of withdrawal that had him sobbing for a half hour while Entrapta held him, and which left his muscles aching all over. He had managed to claw up his arms in the worst of the pain at the very end of it, which accounted for most of the blood. 

His nightgown was ruined entirely. Luckily Morgana seemed to have taken some time in the last few days to make more nightwear sets for him and Entrapta, so there were some plain sets tucked away in their room. 

But, and maybe this was just the drugs making him feel this way- he liked that particular nightgown! He was doubly ashamed of this because on the very end of the wave of pain, it was the realization that the damn thing was destroyed that had set him crying. 

Over a damned nightgown!

And now he felt not just embarrassed but absolutely mortified as Entrapta undressed him and helped him into the hot, soapy water. He could damn well take care of himself! He had been a warrior! A general… 

Tears again, forming at his eyes. At least this time he was able to hold them back. Perhaps he was starting to work the worst of it out of his system. He hoped that the last wave had been the worst- it was impossible to tell because of the spell that Shadow Weaver had used. 

Entrapta took a sponge and sitting on the edge of the very large tub started gently scrubbing his back, her hair holding him in the water. Imp was sitting nearby, perched and watching Hordak as though he was worried he’d slip into the water and disappear. 

“You’re doing good!” She said, but she didn’t sound good herself. Her voice was ragged, tired from her own fair bit of crying. 

She hated seeing him in pain. He hated this. How could he-

“How could I have done this to you.” He said quietly, putting his face in his hands. He hadn’t meant to say that, but occasionally that just happened; he’d be thinking about something, and it would come out of his mouth. He had less control over what he was saying, it seemed, as well as less control over his emotions. 

Correction: No control. 

“You didn’t do anything.” She leaned in and pressed kisses to the top of his head, being careful not to touch the already healing scratches on his scalp, “This is all Prime’s doing.” 

“I should have-“ 

“No.” She shushed him with her hair, then splashed him with the water, “Nope. You didn’t want this. If you knew those rations were drugged...” She shook her head, “If you hadn’t recognized the chemical formula, I would have just produced it myself, Hordak. Somehow, and I would have been drugging you.” She pressed another kiss on his forehead, “I should have noticed. I did notice, I just didn’t realise it was the rations. I wasn’t drugged. I knew something was wrong. I should have figured it out on my own.” 

He leaned into her, “you would have figured it out.” He insisted, “You’d have realized that there was something wrong with the rations. You’re… you’re a lot smarter than I am!” He turned in the tub, and gently took her by the arms. Damn, the tears were back in his eyes. He wiped them away, trying to regain some control. 

“Entrapta.” He said firmly, “you’re better than me.” 

“..Hordak?”

“You are! You’re smarter than I am, you’re more attractive-“ 

“Hordak-“ 

“And you’re not broken!” 

He didn’t even think of the last one before it was out of his mouth. Broken? Was he broken? 

No. Defective. There was a difference, wasn’t there?

“I don’t think you’re broken.” She said quietly, stroking his hair. 

“You’re biased.” He said quickly, “I’m a shadow of what I'm supposed to be. A joke. You’re better off without me.” 

“Hordak!” 

“No. You are.” He leaned into her. “You are. And you…” He pressed his face into her arm, “I don’t want you to leave. I don’t want to be alone. But you can do so much better!” He looked up at her, “Don’t you understand that!”

She held him tight, and hugged him close. He could feel her tears on his ears. 

Broken. Don’t want to be alone. He hadn’t said those things to himself. Why had he said it now? 

“I love you so much, Hordak.” She whispered into him. “And I refuse to be without you.”

“But-“ 

“Shush.” She said, “You already said I’m smarter than you are… so believe me. Ok?”

She’s biased. She’s lonely. She must be desperate to want you. Those were the things the dark, sad part of his mind was screaming in his ears. The part that normally was a dull whisper that he could mostly ignore was on overdrive, and was dominating his mind. 

“Besides, we’ve already determined that I think you’re cute.” She said, trying to tease him. It worked. In his emotionally heightened state, he felt his ears droop and flush, “Especially when you’re all blushy in the tub.” 

“Entrapta, please-“ 

She gave a hoarse giggle, and then leaned forward to finish cleaning the blood and sweat off of him, her hair holding him tight as she did. He let himself lean into her, allowing her to clean him off as he tried to will himself better in his head. 

Please let this be over soon. Please. Just get this stuff out of me. Fast. I can’t be like this. I can’t be hurting her. I love her so much, I hate hurting her like this. 

Please let me survive this.

==========

Three hours later, in the middle of a particularly bad wave of pain and screaming, his heart stopped. He felt it beat in his chest, chaotic and painful. He gave a strange cry that didn’t feel like it was his, and then his heart stopped it’s constant hum in his chest. The pain was all consuming, and then everything went black.

Then he was back. He didn’t know what had happened; he was breathing strangely and his head was pounding. Entrapta was over him, her face stained with tears as she panted to regain her breath. His chest still ached horribly, but he was back. He could hear the whirr of electronics in the room, and some strange noise that Imp was making as he sat just above his head.

He turned his head, and saw Emily near the bed. Entrapta had ripped open a panel on the side of her favourite bot- the scratches on the side made it seem like it was no gentle procedure- ripped out the wires, and used Emily as a makeshift defibrillator. 

“That was clever.” He said, his voice hoarse as he realized what she had done. She didn’t respond, she just threw herself onto him, and started sobbing, saying something over and over, but he didn’t know what. 

He turned onto his side, and held her close, the tears pouring from his eyes but he wasn’t sobbing this time at least. Maybe this time he was over the worst of it. He nuzzled into her neck, holding her tightly until he was able to make out what she was saying. 

“I was so scared. I thought I lost you.” 

He didn’t know why, but for the first time, he didn’t blame himself. He thought of the Perma Frost. He thought of Prime. He thought of every clone drugged with this stuff, and not even knowing it. This stuff had gotten out into the general population. People died over this. He had seen victims who had been drugged with this stuff writhing in pain, suffering permanent damage as the drug was ripped from their bodies. He was only a clone, so it didn’t matter so much, but Entrapta wasn’t. Entrapta was her own person. Entrapta didn’t owe Prime anything, and this drug had hurt her as much as it was hurting him. Maybe more. 

How. Dare. Prime. 

How many other people had ended up like Entrapta, seeing someone they loved, seeing their mate in such pain, so close to death. 

and it was all he could do to keep himself from screaming in rage. 

But he was able to keep himself from screaming. Fists clenched, teeth grinding together, tears of sorrow and frustration at his eyes, he was able to keep from screaming in rage. 

The worst was over, he thought. 

It had only taken seven hours. 

========

Hordak was feeling ‘better.’ 

Better was a relative term, of course. He was still detoxing, and to be fair that would take a long time to finish up properly. This drug could still be in his system for years, his body would just stop needing it and it would sit in his remaining healthy muscles, waiting. But, he’d consider this ‘over’ when he no longer noticed the waves of pain and emotion riding through him. The last few hours since his heart stopped had been a little calmer, thankfully. The pain still put him into a whimper ball, but he didn’t scream in pain. The emotions were still running rampant in his head, but he wasn’t sobbing then breaking out into laughter. The smallest thing didn’t send him into frustrated weeping. 

And he had gotten the drafting done on the implant. Now… he just needed to put it together. 

“Please.” He said, sounding far more desperate than he wanted to. “Please, do this for me.”

“I promised I wouldn’t leave you alone!” Entrapta said. Entrapta was sitting next to him on the bed, her hair wrapped around him as she read through files from the disc that Bow had given them. She had wanted to see if she could find more information about his species that might help with his withdrawal and potentially to see if there was any first aid for his species that she could learn. 

They had been really lucky that the Emily trick had worked. 

“Please.” He said again, “Look, I won’t be alone, I have Emily and Imp right here. The place is filled with palace guards and princesses. The last wave just ended so I have some time before the next one comes. I waited until the next wave before I asked because of that!” He leaned forward, taking one of her hands in his, “Please. I need the pieces for the implant. I need something to keep my brain occupied because if I don’t have something to keep me occupied, I’m going to think about things that I shouldn’t think about, and I’m going obsess, and time is just going to crawl and I’m going to get emotional, and I’m going to have more feelings that I want which is what I have anyway, but If I can lessen that, then-“ 

“Hordak.” She suppressed a smile as she shushed him. He felt his ears flush as he realized just how quickly he had been talking, and how he had been rambling. 

“Please. I’d ask you to get someone else to do it, but nobody else will know how to work the fabricator…” 

Entrapta looked at him, frowning, then groaned, her hair puffing out in frustration, her hands at her head, “I want to help you!” She said, “I want to get the pieces. I want to see this get put together too! But I don’t want to leave you.” She flopped back onto the pillows, “But I don’t want to see you suffer either…” 

“A half hour.” He said as he pressed the Data Pad into her hands, “At most, that’s all it’ll take you.” 

Entrapta’s hair twisted about her, “Let’s see..” She muttered. “You started having the waves about a half hour in, but then the next one was an hour apart…” She pulled up her own data pad, and looked at what were apparently charts she had been keeping on his withdrawal, “The longest we’ve had between waves was an hour and a half, and that was just before that really bad one. The shortest has been that first half hour which I’m thinking might be an anomaly. Since the bad one they’ve been relatively stable at…. fourth-five minutes to about an hour?” Her hair twisted, “I’d be cutting it short…” 

“A half hour is the MOST it would take you.” He said, “Knowing you, you’ll have it sorted in fifteen minutes.” He leaned into her, kissing the side of her face, “Because you’re brilliant.” He kissed her ear, “And innovative.” He kissed just at her jawline, “Because you’re passionate.” 

Entrapta giggled as one of his kisses brushed against a sensitive part of her neck, “If you keep doing that, I won’t be going anywhere!” She said. 

“Alas, I think my body is too damaged for any intimate activities. Otherwise that would be an excellent way to combat the awful emotional side-effects of this drug.”

Entrapta gave him a sly smile - ahh, a smile. A proper smile from Entrapta. He felt his ears perk right up and flick out, wiggling a little. 

“Your ears are so cute!” Entrapta said, reaching out and taking them in her hands to playfully rub them. After a moment, she sighed, 

“Fine.” She said, “But I’m setting a timer on the Data Pad. If it takes longer than one half hour, I’m coming right back, and leaving the pieces in the ship.” 

“That is entirely fair.” Hordak mumbled, his ears gone back to their deep blue while still somehow staying up and twitching. Entrapta grinned, kissed him on each ear, then deeply on the mouth before she got out of bed. 

She shook Imp awake with her hair. Imp was not happy to be woken up- this ordeal was exhausting for him as much as it was for Entrapta. He screeched sleepily at her. 

“Stay up.” She said, “I’m grabbing something for Hordak. If anything happens, get help. Ok?”

Imp nodded and jumped on Hordak’s lap, standing up and putting his little hand against Hordak’s chest as he examined his scratched up face. 

And then Entrapta was gone. 

Hordak realized immediately that having her leave was a bad idea. 

He needed the pieces so that he could focus his mind - that was very true. And he couldn’t go out of the room in this state. He didn’t want anyone else to see him like this. Having Shadow Weaver in the room during the first wave had been the worst- he didn’t need anyone else witnessing his weakness first hand. 

He was just waiting for consequences of Shadow Weaver seeing him like that. 

He remembered that Glimmer mentioned that she’d have him checked up on, and twice he recalled Glimmer just checking at the door when he was relatively well to see how they were doing. 

But had anyone come when he was in pain, or sobbing or-

His ears fell limp at the prospect. He felt like his chest was tightening up, and it was suddenly hard to breath. He started taking deep breaths but he could feel his heart thrumming in his ears. 

Imp looked up at him, his hand clutching at the front of Hordak’s new, plain purple nightgown. Hordak gave Imp a quick smile, patting him on the head. 

“It’s fine.” He gasped. He looked around. It was not fine. Imp could tell he was lying, and screeched at him, his little wings flapping in preparation to take off. 

“She’s not been gone for more than a few minutes yet.” He snapped. He could manage a half hour with her gone. 

He just needed air. That’s all. Even if it was sharp, Etherian air, he just needed fresh air.

The large window that led to the balcony was closed. That was the problem. He had been in this room all day and he had been screaming and crying and bleeding, and now all he could smell was his own suffering and he needed some damned fresh air. 

He got up slowly, pulling himself to a proper sitting position as he pushed off the blankets. Imp screeched at him angrily. 

“Calm down.” He muttered, “I’m not actually going anywhere.” 

He slowly, carefully, put his feet to the ground to test his weight. It hurt, but he could manage.He pulled himself up, and slowly stood on surprisingly unsteady legs and started walking to the window- a slow, shuffling walk. He just wanted to open it and go right back to bed. Fresh air would lift this pressure from his chest. Fresh air would let him take a proper breath. 

His breath stopped for a moment as panic started to spread through his veins. Why were his legs so unsteady? 

No no.. It was nothing. It was nothing for now. He had just been through a lot. 

He took careful steps towards the window, keeping his focus on the promise of fresh air. He knew that fresh air would be no better for him than the air in the room, but it wouldn’t be so stale. He wouldn’t smell his own sweat and blood. 

He managed three steps. On the fourth step he lost his balance- his right leg wobbled under his own weight, and he stumbled forward on his left as he tried to compensate, but he lost his balance and fell. 

Time slowed. He was falling, heading to the ground 

‘This might hurt.’ Hordak thought to himself. 

He kept falling. ‘I feel like maybe I should have caught myself by now. My foot should have hit the ground.’ 

His foot hit the ground and tilted sideways as the rest of his weight went crashing down on the angled foot snapping it to the side. 

Time caught up. Hordak fell heavily to the ground with a sudden, startled, three-vocal chord cry of pain. 

For a moment, he just lay there in shock. Had that really happened? Had he just fallen? There was a weird dissonance, as though it had happened, but happened a very long time ago, yet here he was, still on the ground. 

He felt pulled back into the moment when the pain hit him, sharp and sudden, drawing another agonized cry from him. He managed to pull himself up into a half sitting position to look at his foot. It looked fine, but it felt strangely numb from the ankle down. The pain bloomed from a spot on the edge of his already fragile foot. Three of his toes were twisted strangely. 

Something was broken. A toe wasn’t so bad, a broken toe he could manage. But no, something else was broken, and he didn’t know what. 

Stupidly, he tried to get up. For a brief moment, a part of him just wanted to get back up and in bed before Entrapta got back and saw he had managed to hurt himself in the few minutes she was gone- like a child that couldn’t be left alone. 

He wasn’t getting up. There was nothing near him that he could lift himself up onto, and he couldn’t get up on his own. He considered maybe he could pull himself back to the bed and pull himself up from there, but less than a minute’s attempt to that just convinced him that no, that wasn’t happening. He called out to Imp. Maybe Imp could pull a chair over to him. 

Silence met his call. “Imp?” He called again. 

Nothing. Right. Entrapta had told him to go for help if something happened. Great. He was probably heading down to the lab ship to get Entrapta right now. He considered calling Emily over, but given her tendency to glitch out, and given that she still had some wires pulled out, he didn’t think that would be the best idea. 

Frustration built up in his chest. The kind that normally started to form after weeks and weeks of working on a project and making no progress. The kind he suffered when his armor used to break and he had to fix it, fighting against his own body as he forced himself to work. 

He gave another cry, pure frustration and rage as he slammed a fist into the floor. No need to get into a tizzy.There was every need. Tizzies seemed to be all he had in the moment! 

And he couldn’t breath. He curled up on the floor, clutching at his chest. He could feel his heart in his chest like it was beating to get out. A sudden panic, overwhelmed him. What if his heart stopped while Entrapta was gone? He’d die, and she’d be sad, and she’d blame herself but it would be all his fault!

He was starting to get dizzy. He curled up in a ball, taking big, gasping breaths, clutching at his chest. The tears were coming back now -tears of frustration, of anger at his own stupidity. He couldn’t breath, he couldn’t walk, he couldn’t do anything. He was so damn useless!

No wonder Prime had cast him aside. 

Finally, a choked sob as he curled up into a ball, breathing heavily. 

He heard the door open. Good. Entrapta was back. Her very presence would help, he knew that. Imp had been a lot faster than he had expected. At least he wouldn’t die on the floor, all alone.

“Hordak?” 

Hordak didn’t turn his head. It wasn’t Entrapta, it was the very young voice of the ice Princess, Frosta. 

He froze, still breathing but not turning around, trying to bring himself back under control. The princess was at his side in a moment, “What happened!” 

Hordak didn’t want to tell her what happened. Instead he pointed to the window, his hand shaking as he managed to rasp out, “Air. Air.” 

Imp was in front of him then, his hand on Hordak’s head. Hordak glared at him but it was ineffective through the gasping and the pain and the tears. He heard Frosta run to the balcony and throw open the window. 

The fresh air burned as it entered his lungs, and he still couldn’t breath. At least it didn’t stink anymore. He kept himself curled up on the floor as Frosta came back over to him. 

“Is… is that all you needed?” She asked carefully. He nodded. “Is there anything else I can do?” He shook his head. 

“Are you sure you… don’t need some help?” She asked. She sounded scared, but despite that she hadn’t backed away from him. 

“There’s nothing you can do to help.” He managed to mutter, sounding far more defeated than he wanted to. 

Frosta stood next to him, looking at his back for another moment before she walked away. Once he was certain she was gone, he took another gasping breath, trying to force his lungs to take in air, trying to calm his heart. He managed to bring a hand up to his face and wipe away tears. 

He hated this so much. He was not this weak! 

A blanket was draped over his shoulders. 

In surprise, he turned to look at it’s source, and in that moment Frosta took the opportunity of his slightly lifted head to slip a pillow under his head. 

“If you’re going to stay on the floor, you might as well be comfortable.” She said. Hordak turned away, his ears burning as he tried to catch his breath. He expected Frosta to leave now, but instead she sat down next to him, her back facing his. 

What did she want? He wanted to be alone- well, no, he didn’t want to be alone. He knew that. He wanted Entrapta back. He wanted someone he could relax around. Someone he didn’t have to worry about saving face in front of because right now there was very little saving face to be had. 

“I know it’s not the same.” Frosta said without looking at him, “But once, I ate a whole lot of desert. More than I should have. A lot more. I got really sick after that. I was throwing up for hours.” 

He didn’t turn around. Why was she telling him that?

“It was my own fault.” She said, “It was… well, I had just become the ruler of the Frozen North. Everyone was telling me I had to make decisions. I was in charge. I had to be an adult. I had to do my job. I was so tired of it all, so angry… Then one night I said I’d eat nothing but desert, and when my advisor told me that I shouldn’t, I just said, ‘I’m in charge! I’ll eat what I want.’ And… I got really sick.” She looked back at Hordak, “I’m sure it wasn’t half as bad as this, but I felt awful the whole night. I could hardly move. And… I was alone for most of it. I didn’t want my advisor to tell me off because I got sick.” 

Even in his state, Hordak was able to read between the lines. She had just become the ruler of the Frozen North, so her parents had just died. She was in mourning, and she had to rule a kingdom. She had acted out, as a child would be expected to given the circumstances. 

How old had she been when that happened? He figured she probably hadn’t been more than eight. Couldn’t her advisor have realized what she was doing?

“So… I just don’t think you should be alone when you're sick.” She said. 

He was starting to calm down, oddly. He’d have thought that being in this state around one of the princesses would have gotten him more on edge. Perhaps it was just the distraction of her talking, or her telling him something that started to calm him down. Company, even if it wasn’t Entrapta. 

After a while, Frosta spoke again, “So…. Why are you on the floor?”

Somehow, that struck Hordak as funny and pulled a ragged laugh from his throat. He slowly turned onto his back, looking up at the ceiling. In a moment, he’d try to at least sit up, “I just wanted some air.” He said.

“And.. you fell?” She asked. 

Hordak nodded, glancing aside, “A result, I'm sure, of the withdrawal. Probably diminished balance-“ 

“-why didn’t you get back up?”

Hordak acted as though he was rubbing his temple in frustration as he wiped away the last few tears of frustration, “I… I think I broke something.” He said, then gave another dry laugh, “A couple of toes, at least, and something in my ankle perhaps. I’m unsure. It’s hard to tell, it’s all just pain right now.” 

“Will ice help?” Frosta asked, turning around, her hand covered in a glove of ice. She caught Hordak’s expression, then the ice disappeared, “Ah… probably not. You hate the cold.” 

“Yes, very much so.” 

“... do you want to sit up?” She asked, “Take a look at your foot?”

“... yes.” 

Frosta got up, and managed to help him to a sitting position. She went to the wall and dragged a chair over for him to lean against as he pushed the blanket off his foot so he could examine the injury. “Why do you princesses always throw blankets over the sick.” He muttered. 

“It’s comfortable?” Frosta said, Confused, “If you’re sick, you should be comfortable.” 

Hordak grunted as he examined his foot. He ignored Frosta’s eyes examining the strange, blue, bat-like feet as he pushed at the three outer toes, wincing with every movement- yes, those were broken. Painful, but not a problem. He worked up along the outer edge, pressing gently until he got to the ankle. 

He stifled a yelp of pain. Yes, he had broken something there. 

“Do you want me to get Entrapta?” Frosta asked, staking a step forward as though she could actually do something to help him. He shook his head.

“She will be back shortly.” He said, “In fact, I’d not be surprised if you wasted your time running to get her, only to meet her part way here.” 

If she came back, the tiny, awful voice in his head said. If she hadn’t come to her senses and left while she could. It was impossible, Hordak knew, but in his current state the idea hit him as though it was sensible, reasonable, and very probably. He leaned forward, his face in his hands, trying to keep his breath still. Trying to keep some self-control in front of a damned CHILD. 

“.... I don’t know about this drug thing.” She said, ”But.. whatever you’re feeling, you feel a lot.. harder?” He nodded. “And because Shadow Weaver used a spell, it’s even worse, right?” He nodded again. 

Frosta got up, found a data pad, and came back over, clumsily looking up something. 

“For what it’s worth.” She said quietly, “Given like.. you know, everything? I think you’re doing good.” She pulled up a video of what looked like some form of centaur standing on a stage, a microphone in one hand. She sat next to him, and held the data pad up so he could see it easily. 

“Do you .. Have you ever watched stand-up comedy?” She asked. He shook his head. She grinned, and turned on the video. 

===========

The withdrawal effect of Perma Frost- well, one of many, was the brains’ excessive, temporary sensitivity to the various chemicals that controlled emotions. Because of the pain that people generally went through when detoxing, and often the less than ideal circumstances, these emotions were often not good ones. 

However, Hordak realized that it didn’t just work with simple emotions like happiness, loneliness, or sadness. Apparently, it affected amusement as well. Something that Hordak would have found mildly amusing was suddenly a source of abject mirth, and could have him easily in hysterics. 

To stay that Entrapta was very confused when she returned to the room, hearing Hordak’s breathless laughter mixing with Frosta’s more controlled laughter as the two of them watched some comedy show about how this shirtless centaur got involved with the Crimson Wastes mafia would have been a massive understatement. Hordak had one hand over his stomach, the other covering the lower half of his face as he was left gasping through the laughter, his ears twitching with mirth. occasionally he managed to stammer out something along the lines of “it hurts. It hurts to laugh.” Between gasps. 

Silently Entrapta set the pieces of the implant down, and glided up behind Hordak, putting her arms over his shoulders as she watched with them, her chuckles mixing into the cacophony.

It was the nicest surprise she could have expected to come back to. 


	61. Restoration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought I’d be off for a week. Maybe two. Now I’m off for another two on top of what I’ve already been. Off for. 
> 
> So... silver lining, I’m most likely going to get my original novel done, AND the more frequent updates will continue. 
> 
> I’m also still taking prompts on my tumblr for my new series, “The mini Adventures of Hordak and Entrapta.” 
> 
> Stay safe, stay healthy, and stay the F*** inside!

The pain that bore into Hordak’s body woke him slowly this time, and without the sudden agony that he had grown accustomed to. His eyes opened and adjusted to the dim light of the room which was illuminated only by the glow of the electronics, Imp was in front of him, awake and staring at him carefully, his wings twitching. Hordak figured that he must have been reacting to the pain before he woke.

“I know.” He managed to hiss out, “Just.. let me see if it’s going to pass.” 

The pain was getting less and less vicious, and he had no doubt that he’d eventually sleep through a wave of withdrawal. As such, he was hesitant to wake Entrapta…

But that wouldn’t go over well. She had been protective of him, especially after she found out about his broken foot. 

When the comedy show had finished, Entrapta finally asked why he was on the floor. Frosta said he had fallen and hurt his foot before Hordak himself could say anything. Frosta was thanked, but then Entrapta suggested that she should leave. 

“The pain can get a little scary when it comes.” She said, “I don’t think you should be here for that.” 

Frosta nodded, got up, and left with a quick, almost encouraging smile to Hordak whose mirth had turned to embarrassment at his actions. Paralyzed by laughter in front of a child. Degrading. 

Well, he didn’t have much time to consider that as Entrapta scooped him up with her hair, basically cradling him as she put him gently back on the bed before she looked at his foot.

There was a flicker of shock on his face. He didn’t think he had hurt it all that bad. It might be discolored and swollen, but why did Entrapta seem suddenly so shocked, and so sad? 

“What’s wrong.” 

She shifted so she could work on his foot, blocking his view as she wrapped it up. “I’m worried about you.” She muttered. “You’re in enough pain… You didn’t need this.”

“A break won’t take long to heal on me.” He insisted, “It won't’ even be a problem if Shadow Weaver and Adora manage that spell. 

“I hope they do.” 

She worked quickly, not saying much more as she wrapped up the injury just to relieve some pressure and protect the foot. Then she put Hordak back into bed, pulled the covers over him, and put the pieces of his implant on the bed with a board he could work on. 

“From now on.” She said, “You don’t get out of bed without assistance.” 

“I don’t think I could?” Hordak had ventured, but his attempt at being glib was met with a… frankly scary glare. “Understood” He said quickly, his ears flicking down in defeat. 

“Good!” She said. She seemed to grow instantly happy again, and was content to let Hordak work on the pieces of the implant between the waves of pain - which were thankfully diminishing. The mood swings were...coming under control. Slowly. He wasn’t feeling these big, awful waves of emotion anymore- his mind was starting to regulate. He was still more emotional, but it was controllable, to an extent, and constant. So long as he focused on his work, he’d be fine. 

But now the work was done. Entrapta had insisted that he try to rest, that he go to sleep, because that would help his ankle heal, and she hoped that his increased recovery while sleeping might prevent further damage to his body. She crawled in next to him and embraced him from behind, wrapping him up with her hair. 

And he did sleep, at least sporadically. Then the pain would come and wake him, and then he’d wake Entrapta because she wanted to be woken when he was in pain. 

And this wave of pain he was going through wasn’t going to just fade off as he hoped. He reached down and gave Entrapta’s forearm a gentle squeeze to wake her. It normally would have taken more, but she seemed on alert tonight, sleeping lightly and waking quickly. 

“It’s back?” She asked. He nodded as the pain made it harder for him to speak. She shifted, and held his head to her chest, playing gently with his hair to try to relax and distract him as the pain washed over his body. It was bad, but given what he’d been through that day, it seemed like nothing. It almost seemed like a foolish thing to wake her over. 

But if he hadn’t, and Imp had woken her, or she might have woken up because he was making noise from the pain and she’d be angry again. Worse than that, she’d be hurt. 

“That didn’t last as long.” Entrapta whispered against the back of his ear as the pain subsided. He nodded as he relaxed again, shifting and wriggling into her. She chuckled lightly, and wrapped her arms around him again, nuzzling her cheek into his back. 

“Try to get more sleep.” She murmured, then after a long yawn she added, “And wake me if you’re in pain again.”

“I will.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.” 

“Ok… Love you, Hordak.” 

“.... I love you too, Entrapta.” 

===========

It was light that woke him the next morning, not pain as he had expected. Somehow, the waves of pain - if they continued through the rest of the night - had been weak enough for him to sleep through given his exhaustion and given just how hard his body was struggling to keep up, to heal what it could of his muscles, and his heart, and of course his newly broken ankle 

He shifted forward to sit up, shaking Entrapta awake gently as he did. She woke slowly, then looked out the window at the daylight flooding through the window. 

“It’s morning.” She muttered, then to Hordak, she asked, “It’s over?”

“Over is a stretch.” He said, “But it’s..Manageable.” He knew that once the worst of the pain was over, the worst of the damage was done. He attempted to move his legs to get out of bed, but his entire lower body throbbed with a familiar, deep pain. At first he thought it was just his ankle which hadn’t healed much overnight due to the withdrawal, but then it struck him as odd that the pain from his ankle would be so deep in both legs, and run all the way up to his waist where the last of his ports were installed. 

The panic he felt run through his veins had nothing to do with the drug, he was certain. 

“Hordak, what’s wrong.” Entrapta said, sitting up, then she looked at how he was clutching at his legs through the blankets. “Oh…”

“Oh?” He looked at her, his ears pinning back. “You…” 

“I’m sorry.” 

“You knew.” 

“I… I saw when I was wrapping up your ankle.” 

“And you didn’t tell me!”

“I didn’t want you to worry! There was nothing we could have done about it then, and you were still in withdrawl and-“ 

He pulled the blanket back while she was still talking and pushed the bottom of his purple nightgown out of the way. 

============

In the early days of the Fright Zone, when he was still building his army and still working directly with some of the troops, there was a question that many of them asked. Not to him, of course, they wouldn’t dare, but Hordak’s hearing was so good that they could hear them whisper to themselves. 

“He never wears pants.” 

“He shows off… like, a lot of leg.” 

“Why do you think he dresses like that all the time?”

There were honestly two reasons. The first was simply very mundane - Pants in general had been considered horribly out of style in the wider universe since before Hordak had been detanked. They were considered uncomfortable, impractical, and were mostly only worn as a costume now. His physical appearance aside, he’d not be caught dead in pants. 

The reason for showing off so much leg, for the high side slits, was personal. 

His crash on Etheria hadn’t been a pleasant one. What he had considered his defect, and what he thought was the effect of the air on Etheria which was far more oxygen rich than he was used to, was not kind on his body. His entire upper body, he had been turned into a twisted shadow of his former self with puckered skin and twisting scars. Makeshift electronics had worked to compensate for his sudden muscular weakness, and he was improving them daily, so he could work without seeming weak. 

Thankfully, he had his rations with him to give him energy while he worked through the pain. He started cutting them in half, when he realized it might take a little longer to get off Etheria than he thought, then into quarters when he realized how little resources he had to work with. 

When he realized he was in despondos, he was out. By then though he had constructed a decent working armor, and nobody could see the twisted monster he had become. The perfect flesh sculpted by Prime, destroyed. His defect was now visible. 

Well, except for his legs. 

His legs were still perfect. Perfectly shaped, perfectly muscular, thicker on the thighs, firm on the calves. Powerful and strong. The only thing that remained of his former semblance to Horde Prime. The skin was still blue, soft, and smooth. His calves were still covered up by his boots, which were a necessity due to his feet, but if the only way he could appreciate the last good part of himself was to wear dresses with thigh-high slits, then he was going to do just that. He replicated parts of his old uniform, removed parts where the ports needed to plug in, and made the slits higher and far more dramatic. 

His legs. The only part of himself he didn’t hate. The only part of himself he was still proud of.

==============

Hordak ran his fingers over the twisted, bumpy flesh of his legs. Like the rest of him, the muscles had receded, puckering in places and twisting up in others. Parts of his skin had gone patchy, the white parts twisted into the blue diseased roots that crept through his flesh. 

He tried to lift his leg, but the fight against the pain, against gravity and the very weight of the bones he was trying to lift was fruitless. Despite his best efforts he didn’t even get to lift the leg off the beg. 

“-And I know I should have told you but I needed you to get rest, and I was worried that if you knew about it before more of the drug was out of your system it might push you into another episode and I didn’t want you to have another heart attack and-“ 

“Entratpa.” He said, his voice soft and incomprehensibly sad, “It’s ok.” He looked at her, trying to give her a brief smile. 

“It’s not!” She said, “If you had done that to me, if you had tried to hide that from me-“ 

“I probably would have.” He said gently. “So… it’s ok.” It didn’t matter that his leg was twisted right now. He didn’t want Entrapta to hurt, and she hadn’t done this to him. 

Prime had. 

Prime had caused all the pain of the last day. 

Prime had put Entrapta into tears. He was certain that at times he hadn’t helped, but it was Prime who had caused most of Entrapta’s suffering. He could take some of the blame himself- even if Entrapta wouldn’t let him do so aloud.

Horde Prime.Why? The physical pain and the deformation he had suffered was a result of withdrawal. The only thing he could consider his defect now was the breathing issue he had shown in front of Prime so many years ago. Such a problem would most likely have been easily solved! A scan, a quick scan just to see what was wrong with him. Maybe a lower soldier wouldn’t have warranted it, but he had been Prime’s second in command. 

Why hadn’t he been worth it?

“It doesn’t matter.” He said. 

“It does.” Entrapta said, creeping up to him, “I’m such a Hypocrite I-“ 

Hordak, despite everything, was able to shush her quickly with two fingers against her mouth, “Sush.” He said with a quick grin. 

They fell silent for a few minutes, Imp at Hordak’s shoulder, holding into him tightly, Entrapta letting her hair twist around him as Hordak stared at his deformed legs. 

He took a deep breath. It was time. He didn’t like this but…

“Go get Adora and Shadow Weaver.” He said. “See… See what they’ve figured out.” 

=========

“Do you want the technicalities, Hordak?” Shadow Weaver asked from the side of the bed. 

“No.” Hordak muttered, “Just do it.” 

He was changed into his normal clothes now, but without his armor, or his backup harness, and was sitting in bed leaning against the headboard. The armored boots had been removed, and all that was left of the electronics on him were the ports implanted in his upper body. 

“Very well.” Shadow Weaver said as she turned to Adora, “Go ahead and transform.” 

Adora was still staring at Hordak. She had seen him like this a couple of times, but he supposed the Hordak she was used to seeing from the Fright Zone, and this shriveled shadow that sat before her were so different that it still threw her off. She turned when Shadow Weaver spoke, but then hesitated. 

“We… We’re sure this will work, right?” She asked, “It’s not going to be a ‘it’ll work or it’ll kill him” situation, will it?”

“It’ll work, or it won't,” Shadow Weaver said flippantly. 

“Will it hurt him?” Entrapta demanded, anger causing her voice to shake and her hair to puff up. 

Shadow Weaver seemed to know that glibness was not appreciated in this moment. “If it were just my magic, I’d be more concerned. Working through She-Ra’s sword, there’s a certain… filter that-“ She shook her head, “Nevermind. Basically, my magic will empower She-Ra’s sword, and the Sword will temper any potential negative effects of my magic. Either it’ll work, or it simply won’t.”

“And will there be any pain if it works.” 

“Unsure.” Shadow Weaver said, “I have not worked with these particular types of injuries, or even Hordak’s species. As such I have no idea if the healing process will create pain.”

“It normally doesn’t” Adora added, “I've done this to Bow and Glimmer. It normally doesn’t.” 

Entrapta nodded. She had Emily nearby, her wires out just in case. There was a bowl nearby for the ports, just in case they did come out as Hordak worried they might. 

If it worked, it wouldn’t be a problem. If it worked, he wouldn’t need the ports. If it worked…. If this actually worked the way that Shadow Weaver hoped it would, not only would the new damage done to his body - his muscles, his foot, his heart- be reversed, but the old damage would be reversed too. 

He doubted that it would work that well. He told himself over and over not to hope. That he wouldn’t ever be restored to what he was supposed to be. 

Still… one could hope. And at the very least, he could hope the new damage was fixed

Adora transformed into the towering She-Ra and knelt next to the bed. The sword glowed in her hands as Shadow Weaver started to gesture and formed a strange sigil in the air. 

With a quick gesture, Shadow Weaver pushed the sigil towards Adora so started the healing magic. 

It… didn’t feel bad. The first thing it felt like was like warm water, washing over him from head to toe. Then, from deep inside his limbs, it felt like he was itchy on the inside. Unpleasant, but not painful. It hit his ankle first, and he could almost swear he could feel the bones knitting together - perhaps one of the strangest sensations he’d ever felt, but again not painful. 

It spread to his muscles in his legs, deep and irritating. He felt like he had to stretch his legs, to flex them, to move, though he didn’t dare at the moment, he didn’t want to do anything that might keep this from working. 

It spread up, deep in his chest, his heart feeling like it was swelling and getting ready to burst, though the beat was still regular. He felt his ears twitch as he felt the panic start to rise up inside him, but it settled as the feeling in his heart seemed to calm down.

Then it started to spread outwards, and for a moment the biggest thing he noticed wasn’t the feeling of being itchy under his skin, it was the absence of pain. The absence of pain that had become his normal for so many years even with his armor on. The absence of pain that he had forgotten about until it was gone. 

He muttered a surprised curse in Chilacian. It was actually working. He let himself think that maybe, just maybe, he would actually be restored. Maybe everything that had gone wrong with him would be over. 

Maybe he would finally be what he was supposed to be.

Then the pain started. Compared to what he had been through, it was irritating more than anything, and almost something he could ignore. His flesh pulsed around his wounds and pushed the ports out, leaving holes in his flesh, cherry sized and perfectly round. The image sent shivers down his spine and he had to shut his eyes so he wouldn’t see it. 

“You ok?” Entrapta whispered next to him. He nodded. 

He could feel the holes close up, a sensation which he knew he’d be imagining on and off for the rest of his life. The itchiness under his skin spread out through his arms, then receded back to his chest until he could only feel it on his back, just around his shoulder blades. 

His lungs. Maybe this was going to fix his defective lungs and he’d never end up hyperventilating and gasping again. 

No. It was further out, and it seemed to be concentrated in two places. He had two Anterior lungs, but only one posterior lung located right in the center, so that made little sense. 

Then there was a new pain. A pressure. He ignored it at first, then it became sharp, causing him to gasp and double over. 

“Hordak!” Entrapta cried, putting her hands on his shoulders, “You said this wouldn’t hurt!” She snapped at Shadow Weaver. 

“I said I didn’t know!” Shadow Weaver said, honestly sounding just a little worried. She turned to Adora, “That’s enough, stop it.”

“I can’t.” She muttered, her eyes closed, her hands clenching on the sword, “There’s more. There’s… there’s something else.” 

The pain got worse, and Hordak leaned forward, clutching at the blankets, gasping with pain. It felt like something was trying to burst out of his damned back. Was this magic trying to fix some defect, and failing? Was this making him worse?

Magic. He hated it. He never should have agreed to this.

He felt the skin start to tear on his back. Something flexed just under the flesh, and then it was like something just broke. Something snapped. Skin tore apart and he felt blood running down his back, and large, cold patches over him where he should not have been feeling anything. He felt his skin knit itself back together just before Adora opened her eyes, and stood away, transforming back to her normal form and holding onto the sword as she stared. 

“Fascinating.” He heard Entrapta whisper as she reached out and stroked something that wasn't supposed to be there. A part of him that wasn’t supposed to be where it was. Imp at his side screeched and flapped his little wings furiously. 

“Well.. this is unexpected.” Shadow Weaver finally said. 

Hordak looked around, and saw Entrapta, entranced as she stroked the bloody, thin membrane of one of his large, newly grown wings that stuck out of his back, twitching and cold from the sudden exposure to the air around him. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	62. Wings!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again my little poppets!
> 
> I hope you’re all staying inside! Read! Learn a language, work on your hobbies, play a TON of Animal Crossing! 
> 
> If you are playing Animal Crossing, and want to hang out, follow my tumblr. I’ll occasionally post my dodo code so peeps can visit.

Hordak reached out and gently stroked the thin membrane of his new wings. They were sticky with blood and sensitive from the sudden exposure to the air. He tried to spread one properly to see it better, but it was heavy and difficult to control, and they only spread out halfway before drooping down

Understandable. He’d never used these limbs before. A part of his mind had gone very quiet in his confusion, the questions that were running through his head seemed to be caught up on one another, leaving him capable of only taking in the most obvious of facts for the moment.

Oh. I have wings now. 

They’re heavy. Of course. I’m not used to them. 

They’re cold. Of course. They’ve never been exposed to air. 

Adora turned the sword back into a wristband, slipped it on her forearm and took a step back, “Ok, Wings never happened before!” She insisted, “I mean, not when I was healing people! I didn’t do this!” 

“Are you certain?” Shadow Weaver said idly, “From what I understand you pointed that sword at a normal, innocent horse, and turned it into Swift Wind.” 

Hordak snapped his gaze from his wings to Adora, “-YOU- did that? Wait, is that why it talks?” 

Adora flushed, “Maybe? I mean, I did, and that happened.. and… yes?” She gave a nervous laugh, “But it didn’t happen like that! They didn’t burst from his back all bloody and stuff, they just appeared! It didn’t look like it hurt him!” 

“Remember what Light Hope said?” Entrapta asked, still running her fingers across his wings, making them twitch involuntarily. It felt pleasant. “Hordak’s species are supposed to have wings.” 

“I see..” Shadow Weaver said quietly, considering this. She turned to Hordak, “Do I assume that the clones had all their wings removed?”

“We don’t have wings.” Hordak said, still dazed, “Horde Prime doesn’t have wings.” 

“Did he lose them?”

“He never had them. From the information provided to us by Light Hope, Horde Prime had a genetic abnormality that kept him from growing wings.” He frowned as he tried to spread his wings again- they hovered a little from his body, then collapsed. 

He sighed, glanced away, and saw that the twisting scars around his arms were still present. He lifted his arm and clenched his fist. No pain. Even without the armor, there was no pain. The muscles flexed normally under the skin, the puckering gone, the strange texture of the twisted muscles under the skin was gone, but the scars remained, raised slightly from the skin as white merged into blue. He pushed aside the lower part of his dress to examine the skin of his legs. 

Perfectly blue, from his thigh to his blue, bat-like feet. The twisting and scarring that had deformed his perfect legs was gone. He reached up and touched the side of his face, and the wound that would have scarred was gone as well, leaving only perfectly smooth skin. 

“If you could stop admiring your legs, Hordak?” Shadow Weaver said with a cool calm to her voice. Hordak felt his ears flick and burn as he quickly readjusted his dress. 

Entrapta squealed at his side. Startled, he looked over to her, “What?”

“Your cheeks!” 

“Pardon!” 

“When your ears blush, your cheeks blush now too!” 

Right. Freshly detanked clones had that for a while too, but it faded off. He had figured it was normal, like his nose recessing, but now he figured it was another effect of the drug. That would be problematic, or at the very least embarrassing. He suddenly reached up and touched his nose. 

Still normal, still recessed in. 

“I have concerns!” Hordak said suddenly, turning to Adora and Shadow Weaver, “The healing effects of this do not seem consistent!” 

“But it worked?” Shadow Weaver asked, “The muscular damage that was described to me is gone?”

“Yes, but-“ He pointed to the twisted scarring on his arm, “The new deformations are gone. The new scars on my face are gone. Why do these remain?” 

Shadow considered this thoughtfully for a moment, her hands folded in front of her. “Well.” She said slowly, “Say hypothetically, you had an ear piercing- “ Hordak felt himself shudder involuntarily- “ But you still had the new damage to your ear. The piercing would stay, but the piercing wouldn’t be healed because you consider it a defining feature, or at least, it is considered a defining feature.” She tilted her head, “Unlike science, Magic is highly affected by perception and thought. That’s also why someone with freckles wouldn’t lose them if they had healing done - generally they’re considered a defining feature, and not simply damage done by the sun” 

Hordak growled. This is one of the reasons he didn’t like magic. Nothing like that should be affected by thoughts and feelings! Things were facts, proven by science, not changed by one’s mood!

Still, at least he could understand the reasoning there. 

“Fine.” He said, “I can accept that. What about these!” He tried again to spread his wings, managing to get them a little wider again before they collapsed again. Entrapta made a happy squeak behind him and started to stroke the thin, delicate membrane

“Maybe… maybe the spell could look at your DNA?” Entrapta ventured, “And could fix that?” 

“That makes no sense!” Hordak said, “Evolution is a result of a series of mistakes and defects in DNA that end up being useful or useless! If such a spell could do that it would suggest the presence of overall superior DNA, and anyone healed by it-“ 

“This is a new spell-“ Shadow Weaver interjected, “And as such, I am not entirely sure what this, combined with the healing powers of She-Ra could do. Having said that, my spell was only intended to empower She-ra’s ability to heal-“

“And when I hit Swifty-“

“... Swifty?”

“.. Swift Wind. When I hit him with my sword, I wasn’t trying to heal him, I was trying to transform! I just..” She flushed and shrugged, “missed?”

“Can we pretend the wings aren’t important at the moment.” Shadow Weaver said with a sigh, “Hordak, can you stand? Can you walk?”

Hordak wanted to argue that the wings were, in fact, very important. Even out in the wide expanse of space, there weren’t many species that spontaneously sprouted wings!

But now there were two on Etheria. Etherians weren’t just weird, all of Etheria was weird, the whole planet! Still, he gingerly shifted to the edge of the bed, happy to see that his legs could move again. He set his feet on the floor, shifted his weight onto his formally broken ankle, and when he experienced no pain he slowly stood up. 

“Well?” Shadow Weaver asked, “You can stand. Is everything else normal?”

“As far as I can tell.” He said, but the truth was that he didn’t know. He felt oddly sensitive all over. Pain had been normal for him for so long, he wasn’t sure if what he was feeling was what he was supposed to be feeling. It would take time to get used to it. 

He suddenly stumbled backwards, and quickly shifted his weight so he didn’t fall back onto the bed. Entrapta was at his side, her hair around him quickly, “You ok?” 

“I’m fine.” Hordak hissed, his ears flicking down. He could feel the slight warming of them turning blue spreading over his cheeks now too. That would be very irritating. “These things-“ he gestured to the wings, “- threw me off balance.”

But still. There was no pain. He looked at Entrapta, “But, he said, unable to keep the smile from crossing his face, “I’m not in any pain. At all.” He lifted his arms, and flexed them again, seeing the now healthy muscles pulse under the skin. His hands, now smoother and less angular thanks to the healthy and unshriveled muscle, flexed and his still-painted nails came out for a moment before he withdrew them. 

“Are you certain you didn’t have wings before?” Shadow Weaver ventured. Hordak looked at her in disbelief. 

“Am I sure that I never had giant wings sticking out of my back?” He asked, “Yes, I'm fairly certain I’ve never owned, nor operated, a set of wings before.”

“... Unless you did.” Entrapta said thoughtfully. Hordak turned to her, but she had that look of concentration on her face, her hair twisting about as she thought, “I mean.. you said that the ears on that clone seemed to have been removed before they came out of the vitrines. They wouldn’t have had any memory of that, right? Maybe they have wings too, but they got removed” 

Ears. The whole thing with the clones flooded back to him, the removal of the ears. He felt his breathing quicken as a horrible thought crossed his mind -maybe if that was true, then the clones now considered the loss of their ears the same way Hordak considered the loss of his wings - not at all. And having them back was already proving to be a problem for him as they threw him slightly off balance, they made him feel cold, and he couldn’t control them. 

“No.” Hordak said quickly as he struggled to catch his breath. “I worked in clone production in my basic training. None of the clones have wings. We’re based off Horde Prime’s DNA, and as such, do not have wings.”

“But Imp has wings.” Entrapta said. 

“There might be a marker that I messed up when I tried to clone him.” He said, gasping, “But that was a genetic engineering fluke, not a healing fluke-“ He couldn’t continue. His mind kept flicking back to the image of the earless clones, and his breath was coming in shorter bursts now. He turned to Shadow Weaver, “I’m not entirely healed. There’s a problem with my lungs.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Sometimes I have trouble breathing. It can be mild, like now, or -“ 

“Or enough to make you double over. Like back in the Fright Zone, right?” Adora asked. Hordak nodded. 

“Your spell didn’t fix that.” He said. 

Adora frowned, and looked away. She seemed… Sad? Hordak suddenly felt guilt eat away as his stomach, “It is a minor problem!” He insisted. He was restored - for the most part, his body healed. “ I mention it only because Shadow Weaver wished to know if everything was healed. It seems not.” He looked to Entrapta, “We might have to run tests on my heart, to ensure that-“ 

“Hordak.” Shadow Weaver said, stepping forward, “Might I make an enquiry, to further understand the particular complication of your lungs?” 

Hordak stopped and looked at her, “What do you need to know?”

“You said sometimes you have trouble breathing. Like now.” She looked him over, “Does this happen at any other particular times?” 

“It’s relatively randomized.” He said, “It doesn’t seem to have anything to do with physical activity.”

“I see.” Shadow Weaver said, “And when this happens...what’s normally happening?” 

Hordak frowned, “It varies.” 

She gave a low hum, considering this for a moment, looked at Adora, who still had that almost sad look on her face, then back to Hordak, “If I might try another spell, something that might help with it?” 

“I’d rather not-“ he started to say, but Entrapta pushed him back onto the bed with her hair. 

“It won’t hurt?” Entrapta asked. 

“Not at all. This time I can promise that.” 

“And I won’t grow a tail, or have rainbow hair.” It was getting harder to breathe, and he didn’t want to be doubled over in pain again just after he was pain free for the first time in decades. 

“I could manage a tail if you want.” She said, “I believe your Imp has one-“ 

“Infants often do. They fall off before long. Imps never did because he never grows.” 

“I see.” She said, “No. Nothing like that should happen. It’s not that kind of spell.” 

He couldn’t shake the image of the clones without ears. His mind was starting to create a video of the surgery that must have been performed, the tiny, unconscious baby clones under the knife, having their ears carefully removed. “Go ahead.” He said as his lungs started to burn, and his vision started to blur.

Shadow weaver made a gesture in the air- a simpler one this time- and then put her hand through it, reaching out to touch Hordak’s forehead. 

The result was almost instantaneous. He could only describe it as though his mind had suddenly been put in a hot bath. He felt his ears twitch and flick down, relaxed. His new wings relaxed and drooped down. It became hard to hold thoughts for a moment, and they slipped away from him like fish in a stream, like smoke through his hands. 

His mind felt like it was floating in his head . His breathing stilled for a moment, then slowly his breaths came back normally, deep and steady as he leaned forward, his eyes half closed. 

“Did that work?” Shadow Weaver asked. Hordak nodded. Shadow Weaver turned to Adora, “Well.” She said, “It looks like your suspicion was right.” 

Hordak perked up, looked at them through his half closed eyes. He felt Entrapta’s hair around him as she hovered next to him. 

“It’s… well, I don’t- I mean, I didn’t know for sure, but what you did back in the Fright Zone.. Kyle saw it. He agreed. We’ve seen cadets do that from time to time. 

“I’ve seen it more in soldiers coming back from actual duty.” Shadow Weaver said as she turned back to Hordak, “Hordak… have you heard of something called a panic attack?”

That shapeshifter had mentioned that to him before too, did they? And they had heard it somewhere before as well, but where?

“You will have to explain that to me.” Hordak said, still dazed from the spell. 

“Not right now!” Entrapta suddenly said. There was a hint of panic to her voice that Hordak was surprised - it was the tone she used when she grew suddenly frantic over an experiment that needed to be worked on right away.He looked at her, still dazed from the spell that Shadow Weaver used. 

“Why not?” Shadow Weaver asked, “It seems that-“ 

“Hordak… Hordak is only starting to feel better! This has still been really tiring for him!” She insisted, “He needs rest. He needs a few days to-“ 

A few days? He felt fine and he had already wasted enough time with the spa day and the withdrawal. “Entrapta, I feel-“ 

She gave him a hard look, glancing up to his hair, then back to his eyes, “You. Need. A. Few. Days.” She said pointedly. 

Hordak was very confused, why did he need a few days? He felt fine! Better than normal. He felt-

Oh. 

The feeling of being oversensitive that at first he thought was just a side effect of not being in pain was in fact, judging by Entrapta’s pointed looks and frantic tone, the beginnings of him starting to go into rut. He had missed all the earlier signs that would have let him prepare more properly because he had been in pain, drugged, and then distracted by his new, restored body. 

He needed to be alone with Entrapta.

“Entrapta insists.” Hordak said, quickly as his ears and his face flushed, I will rest.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Psst!
> 
> You want dat good shit? No? Ok, carry on, have a nice day, new chapter monday :D 
> 
> But.. if you DO
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/23380615
> 
> If you don’t wanna read the smut, the smut will not be necessary for the enjoyment of the rest of this fic, and as such you can skip it without much worry. If anything important happens, it’ll be SFW revisited in later chapters.


	63. Diagnosis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still doin’ fine in this social isolation thing. Doing LOTS of writing. 
> 
> In fact, I now have an account on this website called “Royal Road.”
> 
> https://www.royalroad.com/profile/158179
> 
> GEE I WONDER WHAT I HAVE PLANNED FOR THIS!
> 
> *Cackles madly*
> 
> Also, thanks to LittlePrincePotter for suggesting the grounding thing, and going over it. They didn’t even know I was planning this, but they helped a lot in getting me used to writing out stuff.

At some point during his rut, a note had slipped under the door of his and Entrapta’s bedroom. It was simple and short, and just asked that he let Glimmer know when he was feeling better. 

“We’re lucky that they didn’t try to knock.” Entrapta said with a yawn as she stretched on the bed. They were both exhausted, despite having three days of ‘rest.’

“I’m honestly surprised that Queen Glimmer didn’t just teleport in.” He muttered as his eyes glanced at the lock on the door- Entrapta had made it quickly, but it wouldn’t have kept out a teleporting young queen. 

“Well… I think maybe she learned not to on that first morning.” She said as she leaned into Hordak who was still very naked under the covers as he ate the bowl of fruit that had come with their breakfast. Meals had also been left at the door, though that had been done all while he was in detox at Entrapta’s request. They had been left wonderfully and perfectly alone, the last three days and Hordak hadn’t worn a stitch of clothes since his rut had started. In part, clothes were a little distracting to wear when he was in rut now - that would be a problem- and also… Well, what was the point?

Hordak sighed and sat up, intending to get dressed and send word to Queen Glimmer. He’d have to go in person as Imp had wisely still not come back. Entrapta held him back down with her hair. 

“Glimmer can wait.” She said give him a quick peck on the cheek as she stole a very tiny strawberry from his bowl, “I want a bit more time.with you here.” 

Hordak gave her a very soft, very content smile. He shifted against the pile of pillows he was laying on - intended to keep his new wings more comfortable when he reclined, and put an arm around Entrapta as she twisted her hair around him. 

A few more minutes wouldn’t hurt. It wasn’t like he needed to get up and put his armor on. He didn’t need it anymore. 

He had no pain. 

=============

“I should have worn a cape to hide these.” Hordak muttered as they headed to Glimmer’s office. Everyone had heard that Hordak now had wings, and he could feel the eyes of the guards, and of the servants running around, on him. He tried keeping them folded back, but they seemed to throw him off balance and he felt like he was sticking his chest out far too much. He settled on having them wrap before him, draping over his shoulders. They felt far more comfortable that way, and he felt a little more on balance. 

“Well, you look like you’re wearing one anyway.” She said, letting her hair twist around his wrist. She looked up at him, “That’s more comfortable?” She asked. He nodded, “Well, I think they look good on you regardless!” 

Hordak grumbled, his ears and face flushing slightly. Still, having them draped around him was far more comfortable, and he felt warmer this way too. He had gotten used to always feeling cold, but the wings around him seemed to help. 

He wondered if the Chilacians used to fold their wings, or wrap them around. He hadn’t heard any reference to them yet in the scant material he had listened to. Maybe different people had them different ways, like how different Etherians did their hair. 

Unimportant. For now, this was more comfortable. 

They got to Glimmer’s office, and she opened the door on Entrapta’s second knock. She looked at Entrapta, then at Hordak, her eyes lingering over his wings, then stood aside and let them in. When they were in she closed the door and teleported back behind her desk. 

“You wanted to see me?” He said, “I got the note?” 

“Ah! Yes!” She said, “Well, I don’t need anything, not really, but I wanted to see if you were alright. You know. I heard it was…. rough?”

“I would rather spare you the details.” 

“Of course!” She said, laughing nervously, a flush spreading over her cheeks, “Of course. No details needed! No no, I just wanted to know how.. uh, how you’re feeling?” 

He frowned. She seemed nervous, and that put him on edge. “What happened.” He said. 

“What?” 

“What happened.” He said, looking at her carefully, “You’re rambling, you’re not looking at me. Something happened.” 

“Oh! Oh no. I mean, well, not really.” She laughed, “I was just- well we were all worried about you.” 

“I don’t know why you would be.” He said. 

Glimmer’s face fell. “I didn’t mean that in a sarcastic way.” Hordak said, “I-“ 

“I know. I know what you meant.” She said slowly, “You… You don’t know why any of us, why would anyone be worried about you, right?” 

Hordak blinked, confused. He looked down to Entrapta, who looked just as confused as he was. 

“Look.” She said, her voice getting serious, “We… We had a talk while you were.. unwell.”

“We?” 

“Uh. The rest of the princesses? And your troops from the Fright Zone.”

“I see.”

“Hordak… You really don’t see that what Horde Prime did to you - what he’s doing to the clones is really…” She frowned, “It’s really sick, honestly. It’s awful.” 

“I agree-“ He said, “That the new modifications made to-

“No! No, not just the ears and stuff. Everything! Being tools, being drugged, being… being…” She sighed, “Look… I don’t know how to talk about this.” She said, “Aside from telling you that we all think that what happened to you, what’s happening to all the clones is awful.” 

“You just..” He looked away and growled. He was getting irritated with this, “You just don’t understand.” He said slowly, “It’s different on the inside.” 

“Yeah. You can’t see it on the inside. It’s normal there.” 

He frowned. Well, it was normal. What was happening now wasn’t but-

“Look. That’s not why I wanted you to see me.” She said as she looked aside. “Shadow Weaver and Adora told me about your… Breathing problems. Bow saw it too in the Crystal Castle, and one of your troops.. uh.” She looked up, frowning. “The skinny blonde one?”

“Kyle.” Hordak said. 

“Yeah. He apparently saw it in the Fright zone. Uh. Look. You-You wait here, ok?” before he could respond, she popped away. 

Hordak looked down at Entrapta who was looking at her lap. 

“... Entrapta?”

“.. She’s right.” She said, “I’ve been telling you that and… And you just won’t believe me.” 

“Entrapta-“

“Hordak, you…” She frowned, and looked up at him. “Hordak.” She said after a moment, “I think if you had still been in Prime’s Horde when they started cutting off ears- 

Ears. Brains. Implant. Crash

“-that you would have submitted to having your brain altered and your ears cut off without a second thought.” 

Hordak was about to protest that, to say no, no matter what he would have considered that terrible! That his ears were important! He needed them. 

But… Hadn’t he wondered if the younger clones considered the loss of their ears the same way he considered the loss of his wings- not at all? Maybe it didn’t actually bother them. 

But they weren’t people. He wasn’t a person. He was a clone!

But still… the ears had bothered him, clones or no. The changes to the brains bothered him, clones or no. And at the very least, the aftermath of Prime’s tinkering with him had affected Entrapta, and Entrapta was in fact a person. A very important one. 

Before he could think further on this, Glimmer popped back into the room, with Mel and Perfuma. 

“Alright!” Glimmer said, seeming relieved, “I'll leave you to it!” And then she popped off again. 

Hordak and Entrapta stared dumbfounded at Mel and Perfuma, who both seemed equally surprised that Glimmer had just teleported them in and left. Mel was the first one to recover. She gave a derisive snort as she sat down in Glimmer’s chair across from Hordak. 

“Some people.” She muttered as she got comfortable, folding her hands in front of her on the desk, looking for more at ease than Glimmer did in that spot.

Perfuma, on the other hand, looked entirely flabbergasted. She stared at Hordak, looking over his new wings and his far less frail arms visible without the armor covering them up or a cloak hiding them. 

“Problem?” He asked. 

“..YES!” She finally said, “I didn’t have enough time to prepare for this! Glimmer just popped into my room while I was having my tea, and grabbed me and teleported me, and -“ She stopped, and took a long, deep breath. Then another. Then another. She looked around, took a chair that was in the corner, and sat next to Mel. “I’m fine.” She muttered, “I’m fine. This is fine.” 

“... I am very confused.” Hordak said, looking at them. “Why are you here.” He glanced at Mel, “Both of you. I’m not in pain, or-“

“I’ll get right to it.” Mel said as she looked him straight in the eyes, “Because apparently nobody else wants to. Hordak, we think- no, we’re certain you’re having panic attacks.” 

“Hordak ground his teeth together. “And what.” He hissed, “Is a panic attack.” 

Mel looked suddenly surprised, “You.. You don’t remember?” She asked, “We had this conversation before. Briefly, mind you, and not about you.” She tilted her head, “After the Whispering Woods Disaster?”

Hordak remembered that. He had sent in a bunch of troops to try to map out and explore more of the Whispering Woods. It had not gone well, and he had ended up with a lot of casualties.The deeper parts of the woods were left alone after that, save for robotic scouting. He tried to remember talking to Mel about the aftermath…

===========

-10 years earlier- 

The disaster of the Whispering Woods initiative was… well, a disaster. Hordak was still going over footage and getting reports about what exactly had gone wrong. Giant insects, hallucinogenic plants, and hazardous rain were just the start of it. He cursed on those woods in his native tongue- When he had this planet conquered, he’d burn that damned forest right down to the ground. Maybe plant some normal trees. Something useful. 

“Sir?” 

He turned to see one of his force captains escorting a young woman in a lab coat into his sanctum. 

“I assume I’m being interrupted for a good reason?”

“Yes sir.” His force captain said, “You wanted an update on the casualties?” 

Right. Yes. He had asked for that. He sighed as he looked away from his work, and turned to stare down the woman before him. 

“You are… Medical Officer Mel, I believe.” He said, as he recognized her, “Your predecessor recommended you highly.”

“Yes sir.”

“And we’ve never crossed paths because there has not been any problems that needed my attention.”

“No sir.” 

“So. Report. What’s the status of the medical bay.”

“Well sir,” She said, standing upright with her hands behind her back, “We have had a few deaths, unfortunately. Most who died did so en route, or immediately after arriving back at the Fright Zone. Thankfully, we had the resources and the people to stabilize everyone else, leaving us with a mortality rate from this at 1.5%.” 

Hordak frowned. Not ideal, but it could be worse. Certainly, he had seen far worse numbers. 

“And the recovery of the other patients?”

“It might take a while.” She said, “Broken bones, chemical burns.. some people have lost limbs and -“ 

“Do we have enough prosthetics to go around?”

“No sir.” 

“I’ll have some people from engineering assigned to this.” He said. “Once they’re recovered we should have robotic prosthetics for everyone who needs them.” 

“Thank you sir.” Mel said, a hint of surprise in her voice. “But.. There is another issue I’m afraid we’re not currently equipped to deal with.” 

“Why not?”

“It’s… Not necessarily considered ‘medical’” 

“I see.” Hordak said, “What is it then?”

“An effect on the mind, sir.” She said, “Commonly referred to as PTSD. It can have a variety of short and long term effects on a person - depression, anxiety, flashbacks, panic attacks- “

“I am not concerned with the technicalities at this point.” He said, cutting her off. He didn’t have time for the long winded explanation - he could get that later if needed. He needed action right now. “What do you need to cure it?”

“There’s no curing it, sir. Just treating it.” 

“Fine. What do you need to treat it?”

“Well.. well there’s not many treatments here for it.” She admitted, “But my predecessor was doing research, and we have some therapies that will help, and potentially some medications we can research.” 

Hordak had no doubt that if he had access to the rest of the universe, he could find medication for this, find a treatment. He wasn’t surprised that there weren’t many treatments here for it. It sounded like some kind of mental disorder, and primitive societies tended not to bother to treat them. He had even heard of one society that thought such things were a result of ‘demonic possession’ and tried to get rid of it by performing an exorcism. 

At least that was trying to fix something, even if it was dangerous and stupid. Some more primitive societies just locked people up. 

“Research them.” He said, “Will you need more staff?”

“Yes sir, that would be useful.” 

“Take who you need from training then. Do what you need to do.” 

“Sir? There is one more thing.”

“And that is?”

“The people affected - I don’t think they should see active duty anymore.” 

Well that was a problem. “How many people are affected?”

“About 30%” 

Hordak reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose. Those were worse numbers than he had thought. That was a lot of troops to be retired to non-combat duty. 

Still, could be worse. They could have died. 

“Sir?”

“Very well.” He said, “Once they have recovered, send them off for reassignment. I’m sure they’ll have other uses elsewhere.” 

“Thank you sir!” Mel said, giving a quick salute. 

“Just sort this out.” He snapped, turning back to his work, “Dismissed.” 

———————

“I.. I honestly figured you were more informed.” Mel said, “Since you were so quick to just give me the resources I needed.” 

Hordak shook his head, “No.” He said, “No. I didn’t need to learn about it. I just needed to know what you needed to fix it. I left the medical decisions to- I’m not a doctor.” He frowned. “So.. You think I suffer from these panic attacks?”

“I know you suffer from panic attacks.” Mel said firmly, leaning forward, “I suspect you might have PTSD. Which, judging from what I saw in the Fright Zone, and how the clones are treated, I’d be entirely and utterly surprised if you didn’t. I’d be amazed if every clone in Horde Prime’s army didn’t have PTSD. But that requires further diagnosis.” 

“I see.” Hordak said, sitting upright, narrowing his eyes, “And how do you intend to prove that I have panic attacks.” 

“Well, your breathing problems, witnessed by several people-“ 

“Issues with my lungs-“ 

“Each of which happened either for no apparent reason, or when witnessing or discussing something that could be considered distressing.” She pointed a finger at him, “Also, I’m told a calming spell stopped your last one immediatly.” 

Hordak frowned, that was true. He let his mind flicker back to all the times his breath had caught like that. Thinking about the ears, the brains, the implants. His crash on Etheria…

And that one time. That first time. The first time his body betrayed him and his lungs sent him to his knees before Horde Prime, gasping for breath. Just after he heard that DH would in fact be in the line of fire, and just as Horde Prime demanded to know why he had disobeyed orders. 

The memory of Prime’s face as he had gone down to his knees, gasping, clutching at his chest- disgust. 

His chest felt like it was contracting. His breathing suddenly sped up. He tried to force his breathing to calm down. If this was in fact a panic attack, he did not want to have one here, in front of a princess. 

“Hordak.” Perfuma said, standing up from her chair and leaning over the table, “Can you… Can you tell me five things you can see?” 

Hordak frowned at her, “It’s my breathing.” He gasped, “Not my eyes, I-“

“Humor me.” She said. 

He let out a strangled growl, “You.” He snapped, then flicked his eyes over to the doctor. “Mel.” He looked at the desk they were both now leaning on, “A desk. Papers.” He felt Entrapta’s hair wrap around his wrist, and he looked over to her, “Entrapta.” 

“Good.” Perfuma said, looking nervous as she continued, “Now, four things you can feel.”

Hordak clutched his chest, “This is-“

“Please?” Entrapta said, squeezing his wrist, “Do this? For me?”

Hordak growled, and looked down at his wrist. “Entrapta’s hair.” He spat between breaths. He considered this for a moment. What else did he feel? “My wings.” He said, he could feel them keeping the warmth around his body, the cool air on the outside. “The chair?” Did that count? He was sitting on it, so he could feel it. What else. “My clothes.” Did that even count? He supposed he was always feeling his clothes, just he never paid attention. 

“Good.” Perfuma sat back down, the nervousness was fading from her expression, “Good. Now, what do you hear?” 

“You.” He said quickly, “Ordering me to do these foolish-“ 

“Hordak, she’s helping.”

Hordak sighed, “Entrapta.’ He said. He flicked his ears as he listened, “And the wind, outside. “ 

“Two things you can smell.”

“Entrapta- Entrapta’s soap.” He said. He didn’t want to say he just smelled Entrapta, “And…” He sniffed again, confused, “I am unsure. Some kind of flower?” 

“Lavender, likely.” Perfuma said, “I put lavender oil in my hair.” She nodded, “Ok, one more thing. Something you taste. Or something you like to taste. 

He held back his first immediate response, and said, “Strawberries.” 

Perfuma nodded, then turned to Mel, “Does that prove it then?” She asked. 

Mel nodded. “Yup.” She said, “I’d say so,” 

“Does what prove what?” Hordak demanded. 

“That’s a little something called grounding.” Perfuma said with a nervous smile, “I.. I have some issues with anxiety. I have panic attacks sometimes. That normally helps me. Looks like it helped you too.” 

Hordak hardly noticed it, but his breathing had calmed down, and he had stopped gasping. The pain in his chest was, for the moment, gone.

“So.. while that’s not a diagnosis for PTSD.” Mel said quietly, “I think we can be certain that you are, in fact, having panic attacks.”

Something clicked in his head and oddly, he seemed to relax. “I see.” He said, “I understand now.”

“Understand what?” Mel asked. 

“After all the problems the last few days, the issues with the Perma Frost, realizing that my muscular degeneration wasn’t a part of my defect, I’ve been...Confused. What was my defect? What did Horde Prime see? I understand now.” He frowned, “My defect isn’t in my body. It’s in my mind.”

Perfuma, Mel, and Entrapta all started talking to him at once, and while he couldn’t tell what they were all saying they clearly didn’t seem pleased by his conclusion. Before they could quiet down and tell him what they thought one by one though, Queen Glimmer popped back into the room. 

“Queen Glimmer.” Mel said, standing up, “I think we need more-“ 

“I know, I’m sorry!” She said quickly, “But.. Hordak, he’s here!” 

Hordak stood up and turned around quickly, his eyes wide with fear, “Horde Prime?”

“No. No no, the clone you requested. Uh… Shoot, I forgot his number.” 

Hordak froze. “70h67?”

“I think so? That sounds right.” 

DH was alive. 

DH was here! 

  
  
  
  
  
  



	64. DH

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone still doing ok?
> 
> Good! 
> 
> Wash your hands and stay inside. Do some reading! Play Animal Crossing!
> 
> Everyone is still healthy in my house, but we had the first Covid death in my province. I am content to hide inside and keep away from the peoples and the outside-lands. 
> 
> Well, here’s more of Season 4: The Arrival of Horde Prime. Enjoy!

Hordak ran down the hallways of BrightMoon with Entrapta at his side, rushing to the Lab ship as quickly as possible. Despite how his brain was buzzing with fear and excitement he was still able to appreciate for just a moment how fast he was again, and even Entrapta on her impressive hair was having trouble keeping up with him. 

At least until his wings flipped back, pulled back on him suddenly, and caused him to fall backwards on his still sore behind. Entrapta stopped, turned, and helped him up. 

“Damn these things!” He cursed as he held his wings before him as he continued running. 

“It’ll be fine.” Entrapta said, gliding after him. “We’ll sort that out later.” They ran out into the courtyard and dashed for the Lab Ship. 

“Why are we -here-?” Entrapta asked as Hordak unlocked the ship. 

“Because I need something in here.” He said, “DH…” The thought of DH without ears, with an implant in their head, with parts of their brain altered slipped into his head as he considered the possibilities that were awaiting him.

Then a worst through crept into their mind. 

What if Horde Prime erased their memories of him? His chest tightened, and he started breathing heavily as he unlocked the door. He stopped, leaned against the wall, and tried the thing that Perfuma had done earlier. See. Feel. Hear. Smell. Taste. At the last two, his mind drifted back to Entrapta, and distracted himfor the moment from what Prime might have done to DH. 

“Hordak?”

“Right. DH. If they’re sent here, they likely have an implant, so Prime will be able to see and hear us. I wont’ be able to talk to them properly, so I need to find a way to block the communication between the implant and Horde Prime. 

“Can you do that?”

“I wouldn’t have been able to before.” Hordak said as he started pulling open drawers and cupboards until he found what he was looking for - a small but high tech transmittor. He sat down at the work table and pulled out the collection of tools nearby, “But I just pulled apart one of those implants and rebuilt it. A few very specific alterations on this, and I should be able to jam it.” 

“Won't Horde Prime find that suspicious?” 

“Probably.” He said, “Especially if it happens just before DH is supposed to see me. So they’re going to take DH on a tour of Bright Moon-“ He trailed off. He himself hadn’t gotten the tour, not really. “Are there any underground parts of BrightMoon? That would be best.” 

“Glimmer would know better.” Entrapta said, “Or maybe the guards?”

Hordak nodded, “Ok. Good.” He cracked open the transmitter and started tinkering. He normally would have needed a magnifying glass to see the tiny pieces he was tinkering with, but even his eyesight was better. Apparently some of the damage from the Perma Frost had happened so slowly and over such a long period of time that he hadn’t noticed it, he had simply adapted. 

“First, we get him underground- somewhere Horde Prime might expect some interference from the signal. This is a new planet to him, and one that’s steeped in magic so he might not find that strange. Then… then I have to find out if …” 

“If?”

His hands slowed, his chest started to tighten. He wondered if this was a new panic attack, or just the same one that he was managing to hold off. He thought of Entrapta, her hair, her smell… everything. Entrapta, noticing his hands stilling and distraught expression on his face, suddenly wrapped her hair around his waist. 

Alright. He could do this. He could keep this at bay and panic later. 

“If it’s actually DD.” Hordak said, “If it’s DH. If DH rememberes me and Horde Prime didn’t erase me from their memory. 

“And … How do we do that? If it’s not them, if they’ve had their memory altered-“ 

“I have a way.” He said, “Something subtle that Prime might not notice or pay attention to, but something that DH will recognize immediately.” He made a few more alterations to the transmitter, closed it up, hooked it up to the computer and tested it. 

It worked. 

“This should do it.” He said. He pulled the wire from the computer, and stood up. He headed to the door, but he felt Entrapta’s hair holding him back for a minute. 

“Hey.. Hordak?”

He turned to look at Entrapta, who honestly looked very worried at this point, “You know… Whatever was done to them, we can probably fix it. Adora’s sword can fix any damage that Prime might have done, and… And memories don’t just go away, you know? They might be blocked off, and fake ones might be implanted in, but memories don’t just go away.”

Hordak clenched his fists, and nodded. “I know.” He said. “I just…” he looked away, “I just don’t know if I could take it if they don’t recognize me. If they don’t know me.” 

Entrapta came up to him, and wrapped his arms around him, her hair twisting about his body, “You and him were really close.” She said as she leaned into his back. 

At the time, he would have said to anyone who asked about him and his partner- later his assistant- that they simply worked well together. That their minds complemented one another. 

“Yes.” Hordak said as he put his hand over hers, “Yes. We were.” He looked down, forcing a smile, “I hope you get to meet them.” 

“I hope they like me.”

=======

“And this used to be a crystal mine.” Glimmer said as she led her guest into the twisting underground tunnels under Bright Moon. “I’ve been told that they’re the reason Bright Moon was built where it was. Originally it was just a place where people could harvest gems. Though, some of those gems were said to be imbued with magic.”

“I see.” The person that followed her said. It was impossible to see anything of them as they were covered from head to toe in white and grey armor, their faces covered by the helmets that all the Vanguard wore, but the insignia on their chest wasn’t that of the Vanguard, of an ambassador, or even of a lowly soldier. As Glimmer led them into the large cavern where Hordak had rigged up the transmittor, he was able to see clearly even in the low light the blood red insignia on their chest. The insignia that he himself used to wear. 

The red insignia of the Alpha. 

A part of Hordak foolishly thought that this might be good. Maybe Prime would have left DH alone if they had become Alpha before all the changes happened. Maybe. Maybe not. Likely not. He felt his stomach clench up as DH walked closer to the radius of the radio signal that would jam up their implant. They worried that it wouldn’t work, that they had done something wrong. They were worried that it would work, and that would be evidence that DH had an implant. 

They held their breath as DH, as Horde Alpha, crossed into the area. 

Hordak didn’t expect anything to physically happen, the clone that had attacked them back in the dead zone didn’t seem affected by having their signal jammed. However, there was a sudden effect on DH. They stopped in their tracks suddenly, almost as though they were about to stumble. They looked around as though they had just woken up, at Glimmer and her guards who were still walking ahead of them. Glimmer turned around, looking at the towering creature before her. 

“Pardon me, Mr Alpha? Are you ok?” 

“I am ok.” They echoed. There was no tone to their voice, but from their body language, they seemed confused. 

Hordak took a deep breath, and very low, very quietly in a pitch just a little below Etherian hearing, he hummed seven simple notes. Seven simple notes that anyone might hear, and shrug off. Seven simple notes that, if that was DH, if it was really DH, and if they still had their memories…

A moment later, and six notes came back to him, but not in the same pitch that Hordak had sent them out. They were louder, audible to Glimmer who looked at them oddly, and to Entrapta at Hordak’s side, who tilted her head in curiosity. 

DH turned and looked into the shadows. Hordak was of course hiding behind the rocks, just in case this went bad- the shadows wouldn’t protect him from DH’s vision. 

Toneless and quiet DH’s voice rang through the cavern “... Are you T1?” 

================

T1 and DH sat in a private box in one of the smaller theaters located on one of the three moons of Hextaval. Of course it wasn’t a great theater when compared to the larger, grander theaters of the universe, but it was the closest one to their assignment, so it was one they frequented. 

<<Excited?>> DH asked, their ears flicking in amusement at T1 who was sitting next to them, watching their ears twitch rapidly with excitement. 

<<Not in particular.>> - deceit- shame- <<It is important to be seen as present on our assignments, and partaking in local culture is a valuable way to do that with little effort, as such->>

<<ok- first of all, I know when you’re lying>> -irritation- amusement- << Second, your ears are twitching like crazy, so I know you’re excited. Third, I already know you’ve been dying to see the finale of this series.>>

T1’s ears flicked down and burned blue with embarrassment as they turned to DH, <<Ok, this isn’t the finale. This is just the finale of THIS trilogy!>> -excitement- hope- <<And rumor has it that there’s going to be at least two more trilogies, along with stand along stories that compliment the overarching storyline, AND->>

<<Yes, I know, you are very excited about all this.>> -amusement- happiness- <<you do realize it’s ok to like things, yes?>>

T1 looked away. It was ok to like things, sure. But most clones didn’t care this much about works of fiction. Most clones didn’t even like musicals. 

Most clones didn’t feel the music like they did. 

<<I think it’s good that you’re excited!>> Dh said, <<And… I’m looking forward to this too. Though->> Amusement, <<clearly not as much as you.>>

T1 was about to respond to that, but the lights dimmed, and the music started. Electronic synthetic music filled the theater, creating chaotic noises until they coaselsed, playing the theme that had run through the entire series, seven notes, six notes. Thirteen notes when played together now sent chills of anticipation through T1’s spine as they leaned forward to watch.

===========

Hordak stepped from around the rocks and out of the shadows, “Alpha, I presume?” He asked, looking at the insignia. 

DH ran up to him as fast as the armor would allow him, and grabbed him in a tight embrace, “You asshole,” they said, though their tone was still oddly deadpan, “You call me DH. Never Alpha.”

Hordak was not used to this, not even from DH. They had been close, but the times that DH might have embraced him were very few and generally in more extreme or intoxicated circumstances. Hordak returned the embrace quickly- he should have done that more when they were healthy, when they were younger, before he was sent away- then pulled away from them, “You’re sending to Horde Prime, right?” He asked, trying to look through the eyes of the helmet to see them, “You’re transmitting data right now?” 

“I am not.” They said, looking around, “No, not at the moment, I was. I mean, I was connected.” They looked back to Hordak, “It’s complicated.” They looked over Hordak, “Oh. Oh you have wings.You have your wings back” It was hard to tell because of how flat their tone was, but Hordak was sure they were excited

“... I have my wings back?”

Entrapta stepped out of the shadows, “Hordak? Do I get an introduction?” 

DH turned to her, and still in their deadpan voice, said, “What did that one call you?”

“I go by Hordak here.” He said, “It’s… not necessarily an insult, it’s just all they’ve known me as.” He beckoned to Entrapta, “DH, this is my mate, Princess Entrapta.” He realized that he had never introduced Entrapta as his mate before - there had never been a need. He had also never called her his mate in front of anyone, but doing so now made his ears flatten and burn as he felt his cheeks warm up and his stomach churned with anxiety. 

It had been a while since he had seen DH, and though he himself had changed, he remembered how hard it had been to overcome the conditioning that held him back from love, or romantic relationships. Would DH think this was a source of amusement? Would they pity him? Would they be disgusted?

“Yes. I have been informed you have a mate.” They said, their tone unreadable. They bowed deeply to Entrapta, “Greetings, Princess Entrapta. I do hope you are taking care of T1” They turned back to Hordak, “Though, there’s no time for pleasantries, as much as I’d love that. We have perhaps five minutes before Horde Prime gets suspicious…” they trailed off, and Hordak wondered why for a few moments before they said, “You’re nervous. Why?”

It had been so long since someone had read his ears that well, that quickly, and so long since someone had called him out on something like that, that it took Hordak aback and he had think think for a moment before he realized that his ears were giving him away - the more subtle movements that DH could see and read as easily as a book. 

“How did he know you’re nervous?” Entrapta asked, rising up on her hair, “Ooh is it your ears?” She gasped and leaned forward towards DH, “Can you read every little movement of his ears??”

“I can indeed, Princess Entrapta.” They said, “They- he is very nervous, though why I am unsure.” They were silent for a moment, watching Hordak and Entrapta before they said, “I am glad you have found a mate, T1. You deserve such happiness.”

“You’re not in the least surprised?” Hordak asked with his face and ears flushed.

“I am not, though I know that clones are not supposed to have such instincts. We need to talk about that, T1.” 

<<That can remain very private, thank you! We are not discussing that in front of Queen Glimmer!>> -Embarrassment-. He knew that DH wouldn’t be able to respond in Chilacian without his helmet off. “Take off your helmet.” 

“...I shouldn’t.”

“DH.” Hordak took a step forward, “I swear, if Horde Prime took off your ears-“ 

“No! I mean.. I don’t think so. No. I think I’m fine.” 

“You.. don’t think so?” Hordak frowned, his ears flicking in distress, “What do you mean, you think?”

DH hesitated, reached up, and pulled the faceplate from the helmet. 

No face. No eyes. No mouth. Cameras where eyes should be. A speaker where the mouth would have been, circuits and wires everywhere else.

Hordak felt his chest tighten and his breathing started to come up short. “What did he do to you!” 

“Nothing. Well, nothing physically. It’s… It’s complicated.” They put the faceplate back on, “I am certain I am physically fine. Prime has no need to alter me.”

“Why not?” 

“That is complicated to go into the details of.” They said, “Needless to say, I am hooked up to a system that draws information and actions from my mind, and filters it through a program that provides this unit the information it needs to act. In case of disruption, I have some memory backup on this unit, but it’s not meant for long periods of time. It’s meant just to-“ They stopped and shook their head, “That’s not important. Not right now. Needless to say, I’m somewhere on Prime’s ship, and my mind is hooked up to his systems.”

“You’re...What do you mean you’re somewhere, you don’t know where you are?” 

“I can’t communicate with my body anymore. The information is cut off and redirected into the network. My body is likely being kept artificially alive on Prime’s ship.”

“Where.” Hordak demanded, “I’ll find you, I’ll-“

“You can’t.” They said, “You can’t stop Prime now, he-“ 

“I will!” Hordak snapped, “I will stop him!” There was rage in his voice, and his ears were pinned back. How dare prime. How dare Prime do this to DH. “How long have you been like this!” 

“... since a little after you disappeared.” They said, “Your.. well, you were the Alpha. You were safe, we all thought. When Prime sent you off to die… Well, there was a good number of us who didn’t think that was right. So, some of us had been planning to leave anyway-“ 

“Us?”

“A small group of us who… well, I didn’t meet them until later, until just after you were gone, but a small group of us who were like us, T1. Different. There were a bunch of us, planning to leave. But it didn’t work out so well.” They shook their heads, “Look, I don’t have time to tell you everything. I don’t even know what I should tell you! There’s so much you need to know, and I only have a few more minutes-“ 

“You’re alive. You’re well?” Hordak finally asked. 

“Yes. Not happy, but alive.” 

“Ok. What else do I need to know.” 

“A lot.” Dh started pacing, “If only I could give you Prime’s files, that would make this easier-“ 

“We have them!” Entrapta said as she lifted herself up on her hair, “We have them! Hordak already got a copy!” 

“... I do not like hearing you called ‘hordak’” They said, “But-“ 

“I’m taking it.” Hordak said, “I’m making it mine. If I’m to be a Hordak, I’m going to be the worst Hordak Prime ever made. 

They nodded slowly, “Alright.” They said, “Go into Prime’s files. There’s several you need to go over, the first one is “Advanced Alpha.” There should be some coding that I know you can work out to open up a line of communication with me, even if it’s only through text. Then, you need to read “Project Rebirth,” and “Project Ascension” 

“Project-“ 

“There’s no more time.” They said, they turned to Glimmer, “Queen Glimmer, You need to take me back to where my implant will work, or Prime will grow concerned. Act as though you had been talking to be this whole time about gemstones and magic and the like. Horde Prime won’t be interested in the gap in the feed then.” They turned back to Hordak, “And don’t worry, I can hide these memories. Horde Prime is smarter than me, But I’ve spent a long time in his files. I know how to hide.” 

They started walking towards the entrance to the old mines, Hordak heading back to the rocks he was hiding behind. He needed to get at those files. He needed to see what DH was talking about. 

“Oh, T1?”

Hordak turned back to see that DH had stopped just before the cut off zone. 

“You were right.” They said, “There were three trilogies in total.” 


	65. Rebirth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Greetings once more!
> 
> I have hinted to an up coming announcement, and I suppose it’s ok to post it here before I go onto the story. 
> 
> You see, I love the Chilacians. I love everything about them, and I wanted to do something more. I’m entranced with the idea of the “Brave New World” Esque training and conditioning they go through, and their history.
> 
> SO!
> 
> As soon as it’s approved, you can read my Original fiction entitled, “Synth” 
> 
> https://www.royalroad.com/profile/158179
> 
> I was HOPING to have it up and going by this morning, but didn’t realize it takes up to 48 hours to be approved. Oh well. Keep an eye out, and i’ll be posting on my Tumblr when it’s properly approved. 
> 
> In the meantime, here’s your last chapter for the week. Chapter 66 coming on Monday. 
> 
> Stay safe, and stay inside.

Back at the lab ship, Hordak checked the program that had been working on opening Horde Prime’s files. At some point between his time in Mystacor, the detox, and his rut, the program had succeeded in its task. The password - a seemingly random collection of numbers and letters- had been saved on a file for him. 

“I should have been keeping an eye on this.” Hordak muttered as he sat down in front of the computer. He plugged his Data Pad in and started the transfer of information. 

“Hordak, all things considered, I think you can be forgiven.” Entrapta said as she started looking through the tests that he had run earlier, examining them. 

“Maybe, but there’s no time-“ 

“Oh shush.” She said, “It’s not like you would have been able to poke through this the last few days anyway” 

The transfer started. It would take a few minutes - though not as long as it had taken to transfer the data from Prime’s computer in the first place since Hordak now had a direct connection and not a wireless one. Still, the time he had to wait was time his head would spend turning over the new information that he had been given so far.

DH was alive. DH was ok - as far as they knew. They were tucked away somewhere on Prime’s ship which wasn’t ideal, but that would explain how they were still alive; if they had been out in combat, or even physically out on their own, they’d be in far more danger, or potentially would have died of old age. Hordak wasn’t sure. 

He and DH had lived more than Hordak thought clones could live. 

He’d get more Information out of DH later. Once he had the files he needed, once he had opened up real communication with DH, they could get all the information they wanted.

“Hey, Hordak?”

Hordak was drawn out of his thoughts by Entrapta behind him, “Hmm?”

“I admit, my focus is on robotics, not biology and DNA studies. Biology and biotech is your specialty, not mine. 

“True, but you far surpass myself in robotics.” 

“Thanks! But.. I do know a little about DNA.”

“More than a little, but go on.” 

“And you’re a clone, right?”

“Correct.” 

“...Then this DNA is wrong.” 

Hordak turned around, frowning. From where he was he couldn’t see what Entrapta was looking at so he got up and stood behind her, reading the analysis on the screen before her. 

“What’s this?” He asked. 

“That’s the results of the DNA sample you gave earlier.” She said, “And, if I’m not mistaken, the DNA from the clone that you broke down right under it.” 

The results for the Genealogical tests that Hordak had run were displayed on the screen before him in an easy to read graph. The top one was his, the lower one was supposed to be the clone. Hordak frowned, leaned over, and superimposed the images. 

“... Again, this is your area of expertise not mine.” Entrapta said, “But if I were looking at this, and trying to decipher it for myself, I’d say that while these two indiivduals were part of the same species… I’d not say they were related in any way.” 

Hordak frowned, and leaned in as Entrapta moved out of the way so he could get a closer look. He checked every variation- he had expected some variation since he had a defect, one he now knew was in his mind, not his body - but this was well beyond a simple defect. The DNA was too different.

“The test must have been flawed.” Hordak said, “There must have been something else in the tank, or-“ 

“If there was anything that wasn’t you or the clone, the DNA would be a lot more different, wouldn’t it? We’d see mixes from other species, and I’m guessing these systems are clever enough to be able to differentiate between different species. 

They were. Hordak tried to think through every mistake he might have made, through anything he might have done wrong. There were a number of ways he could have messed this up but each one would have come back with a faulty test, each one would have given him results that were obviously bad. 

A thought ran through his head. He sat down at the computer and started typing rapidly. 

“What are you doing?”

“The system should have a backup genetic blueprint.” He said, “And since the DNA is already analyzed, it should have compared my DNA, the other Clone’s, and the default. Maybe That clone was different.” 

The information came up. Another graph, and superimposed over the others it was a perfect match for the clone that had been dissolved in the tank. 

Hordak’s own DNA wasn’t similar. Clearly, they were the same species, but outside of that, there were too many differences, they weren’t siblings, they weren’t parents. Hordak was not related to the clone that he had killed in any way. 

Entrapta looked up at him, her hair twisting around her, puffing up with excitement. 

“Hordak!” She said, practically vibrating with energy, “I don’t think you’re a clone!” 

===========

They got back to their room with the information on the data pad. Hordak plugged it into the larger computer he had for more intense work, transferred the data once more, and got to work. 

“Why don’t I see about setting up the link between you and DH?” Entrapta said as Hordak sat down, “You can go over the files that DH told you to go over while I do that. Faster work between the two of us!” 

Hordak’s mind could hardly focus on her; he had so many questions and he wanted to talk to DH right away and ask if they knew anything. But opening that up would take some time. He also wanted to go over those files as soon as possible, because the way DH had sounded, they were important. 

“Alright.” He said, though really he wanted to split himself up and rush through it all himself, “Alright. You take care of that, I’ll look over this information.” 

Entrapta sat at the computer next to him and opened the file she needed. Before she started though she turned to Hordak and wrapped her hair around his waist. 

“You… Are you going to be ok?”

“I’m fine, I-“ he stopped, and actually thought about it for a moment. “No. No I'm not. I don’t know if I’m going to be ok, I-“ His breathing tightened in his chest, his head felt like it was being squeezed. In a sudden fit of frustration he slammed his fists down on the table, narrowly missing the keyboard with his powerful new hands, leaving deep dents in the surface of the table. “I knew what I was.” He hissed. “I knew. Even if it was awful. Even if I was defective, I still knew what I was. I was a clone of the emperor of the known universe, created to serve.” He rested his face in his hands, breathing deeply. “What am I.” He muttered. 

Entrapta was silent for a while, her hair twisting about him, squeezing him gently. Finally she spoke up. 

“You’re my mate.” She said. Hordak looked up at her, and she nodded, “Yup. You’re my mate. That’s… that’s all I really care about. You could be a clone of the Emperor of the Universe, the clone of his deadbeat brother, or the clone of Catra for all I care. Before any of that, you’re my mate!” She leaned forward and kissed him first on the cheek, then just at the corner of his mouth, then gently on his lips, “And nothing will change that. No matter what your DNA says, ok?”

Hordak felt his cheeks flush as he flicked his eyes away, then back to her and leaned in to kiss her back. “Thank you.” He muttered as he rested his forehead against hers. “Thank you.” 

Entrapta sat there - Hordak knew that with all the new information they had, and with new programming for her to pick at it was an impressive show of will for her to not just dive into the work- and gently played with his hair. His breathing was calmer, and while he still felt very confused, very lost, he at least no longer felt like he had been thrown, spinning into the void of space without a tether. No matter what happened, Entrapta was his mate. Entrapta was his tether. 

Entrapta would keep him from getting lost in the void. 

“Ok.” He said after a moment, raising his head up to quickly kiss her on the nose before pulling away, “Let’s get to work.” 

Entrapta’s hair frizzed out as she gave a little high pitched squeal. She turned, and dove into the files that had the information about DH- Advanced Alpha. 

Hordak opened up “Project Rebirth”

=======

**Project Rebirth**

**Universal Cycle 1358, Yon, day 18**

**Phase 1: Specimen gathering: With limited time, I have managed to gather enough samples to potentially revive the species. My focus at the moment is less the process of actually creating new individuals and simply preserving the necessary DNA for future use. When the planet is secure then Phase 2 can commence. **

**100 DNA samples was the minimum that I could have hoped for to prevent potential inbreeding in the species in the future. Without that this project would be pointless. 700 genetically diverse species would have worked to prevent future genetic drift, but of the samples I managed to save while avoiding the patrolling Decanoids, only 300 were viable. Many were either too damaged from radiation that the Decanoids are using on the surface to terraform our planet to their preference, or simply degraded beyond repair. **

  * **As a note, my own exposure to radiation might cause some problems. It may be necessary to keep an eye on my health, and create a backup in case of complications. Consciousness transfers are still highly theoretical but I have time now. I’m not doing much else once the main work on the clones is complete. **

**For the time, the preservation of my samples is my focus. My own DNA samples are more than enough to create a temporary population to win our planet back. Creating temporary protective capsules from clear dawnberry tree sap should work to preserve the DNA as long as I need. If all goes well with the Clone Project, I should be able to start this within the next decade. **

**UC 1411, Hatchi, day 40**

**Phase 1:(Continued) **

  * **Retaking the planet took longer than expected. **
  * Saved DNA for repopulation is still viable as far as I can see. There has been no degradation of the DNA, which means they can survive in this state for millenia if necessary. 
  * Given this, and given the threats out in the universe that might disrupt Project Rebirth, I refuse to proceed to Phase 2. Phase 2 will continue when the Clone Project has grown enough to properly protect the new species. 

**UC 1476, Que, Day 23**

  * **Phase two is further delayed. There is a greater threat to me than the Decanoids had ever been, a race that seems determined to overtake the universe and shape it to it’s desire. This is a threat must be subdued before I can proceed.**

**UC 1573, Ju, Day 30**

  * **The threat has been eliminated. Much of the leadership has self-destructed after the failure of a weapon they had been developing. While the major threat is now gone, the power vacuum they have left is a threat of its own kind. Phase 2 is further delayed until this can be resolved. **

**UC 2287, Ichi, Day 22**

**Phase 2:Fetal creation**

**With the wider universe and the main galaxy hubs now connected and controlled, it is time to move onto Phase 2. This has taken far longer than I considered originally, and I now worry about the age of the DNA. It is still viable, but the DNA I have saved is nearly a millennia old, and has missed out on potential evolutionary advances. I am concerned that the species may end up being too antiquated and primitive to use for my original purpose. **

**As well, the advances I have implemented on the clones have proven to be a resounding success. Certain weaknesses in the species have been worked out through a combination of genetic engineering, biotech, chemical interference, and conditioning. **

**If the species can be reborn, they will have to be able to adapt to the modern universe. I am hesitant to perform biohacking on the original DNA, if I do that then there’s no point in this entire project, I might as well just create more clones. **

**Potential solution- create the new individuals, and integrate them into the population of clones. With the training and conditioning and resources provided to them they should be able not only to compete with the clones, but the variation could cause them to rise above the basic clones. **

**Aside from simply recreating the species, this might actually improve my forces, and help improve my hold on my new empire. **

**UC 2288, Ni, day 40**

**-The new incubation tanks have been created in a private lab. The preliminary creation and incubation will have to be done here in private so that I can observe their development. Major visual differences from the other clones will have to be corrected at this point. Other minor differences later in development can be explained away. **

**-The DNA has to be prepped, which might take some time. **

**Chemical Alterations were a concern at this point. Should these new individuals not be dosed with my Emotional Stabilization Drug? Should they be given less? More? Unfortunately, I believe that a higher concentration in late fetal development might be needed, otherwise there might be complications when they start to interact with other clones. I am already expecting some issues, but I’m certain it’s nothing that cannot be overcome. **

**-A final note: these individuals will not be able to undergo accelerated development. Their conditioning will have to happen in real time as they grow to maturity in their tanks normally. **

**UC 2290, Son, day 1**

**-The new zygotes have been placed into the tanks. **

**UC 2290, Roku, Day 10 **

**-8% of the new zygotes have perished. 276 individuals remain. So long as the population doesn’t drop below 100, issues with incest won’t be a concern. Potential genetic drift in future generations can be dealt with as the problems arise, correcting potential genetic bottlenecks on a case by case basis.**

**UC 2290, Roku, Day 39**

**-The remaining fetuses have started to develop wings. While this is in the long run a good thing, wings will cause issues with integration. Removing them now will affect their spinal development, so they will have to be surgically removed when primary development is complete. If the project is successful, the next generation will be able to keep their wings.**

**UC 2291, Son, Day 32**

**-Primary development has concluded. 5% of the remaining individuals suffered non-viable defects. 262 individuals remain. Wings have been removed, thankfully without pulling the individuals from their conditioning. **

**UC 2329, Ichi, Day 1**

**-This is the cycle the new individuals will begin their integration. Clones that are scheduled to be removed this cycle will be replaced with individuals without the overseers’ knowledge. While I wish not to hold a bias against the individuals, and as such will not keep track of them, I will need to keep a record of the call numbers that the individuals will be replacing. **

**UC 2339, Go, day 6**

**-There have been complaints from some of my officers that some of the troops seem to be deviant. This is to be expected, they will deviate from the norms. Perhaps a higher dose of the Emotional Stabilization Drug, dubbed by the commoners who have gotten their hands on it as Perma Frost, would help - enough to dull them, but not enough to permanently damage their ability to create a pair bond. In the future, damage caused by the removal of Perma Frost from their system can be reversed, and they can form their little pair bonds in order to continue the species. **

**Worst case, I can create fresh bodies for them as I have for myself. **

**UC 2437, Hatchi, day 14. **

**The experiment is a failure. There has been a raise in insorbornation among the clones, and upon checking my notes each clone that has exhibited such problems has been one of my individuals. They cannot function in this new society I have created. They cannot obey- which is vital for their survival. They do not listen. They will not cooperate. **

**I had high hopes for my Alpha. I didn't even check the files to see if they were a clone or an individual until they proved themselves to be unable to survive in this modern time- their insubordination, deviances, and emotional reactions are not beneficial to them, or to my society.When this was clear, I checked my files and they were in fact one of the individuals I had set in with the clones. They had to be discarded as quickly as possible to avoid medical testing which would lead to the revelation of my experiment. **

**I hoped the others might be salvageable, but after the hordak had been disposed of they attempted to escape. Some were even plotting an attack on myself, and thus had to be dealt with. **

**Some escaped. They are being hunted down and I expect to find and eliminate them within the cycle. **

**Conclusion: Though Project Rebirth was ultimately a failure, much was gained from the work that was done. While they do not seem to be able to last in the universe as it is, they did, in the short time they survived, thrive in some small and beneficial ways. They exceeded my expectations in terms of logic, technical skill, and problem solving. Having one as an Alpha was particularly useful as they often came up with ideas or solutions I myself would not have considered. Genetic and individual variation is in fact a benefit, but it must be far more controlled in the future. **

**I have once again managed to save a good collection of DNA from the bodies of the individuals who had to be disposed of. While Project Rebirth is a failure, I have a plan for another, better project. **

**===========**

He didn’t know why he did it, but Hordak scanned through the list of call numbers of all the clones that had been replaced with the individuals that Horde Prime tried to create. He knew the answer without looking, but he still had to see it. 

There were so many numbers, ones that he knew of, who had caused trouble or had been particularly useful. There was DH’s call number, and further down the list, he saw in illuminated green lettering: 05H41. His own number in the middle of the list, just as he knew it would be. 


	66. Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!
> 
> We all still social distancing? Good. Stay home, and stay safe.
> 
> Even though I’m now putting a separate story up on Royal Road, we’re still getting 3 chapters a week here until I have to go back to work. 
> 
> Loves ya all!

“I know it’s been a few days.” Queen Glimmer said from her seat in the new meeting room, “But I thought it would be a good idea for us all to sit down, and…” She glanced upwards, as though trying to find the words floating around in her head, “Get some updates.” She looked at everyone sitting around the table, “As you can see, we have a new meeting room. The war room was getting a little cramped so..” 

Apparently, Queen Glimmer had taken one of the old ballrooms in the castle - that there was one more than one seemed excessive to Hordak, but it wasn’t his castle- and had it turned into a new meeting room. There was a much bigger table in the center of the room, with chairs that were thankfully spread out to give everyone a decent amount of room. All the princesses were there, along with Bow and Adora. Shadow Weaver was there as their magical consultant. Scorpia had been chosen among by old troops to represent the Fright Zone troops and as such had her own seat now. Mel, who was now their medical consultant, and Jacob; their Intelligence Officer, also had their own seats.

Everyone in the same, relatively small meeting room would have been cramped, and potentially awkward since Hordak wasn’t in full control of his wings, and occasionally they would puff out a bit. Last thing he wanted to do was smack someone in the face with his wings. 

“So,” Glimmer said, “Perhaps we should go around the table and give our updates?”

Hordak clasped his hands before him on the table, giving a quick nod as he tried to ignore the frequent sneaky glances that the other princesses were giving him. 

When nobody answered, Glimmer cleared her throat, “Very well. I’ll start.” She looked pointidely away from Hordak and towards Adora at her left. “Ok, So. As I said, because our numbers have expanded, we’ve moved to a bigger room. It’s… a little barren now-“ She glanced around - despite their increased numbers this room was intended for parties, and it felt cavernous and empty. Hordak liked it- “ but we have room if we need to put anything else in here. Shadow Weaver has cast an illusion spell on the entrance, so anyone who accidently walks in here - say the Horde Alpha- will only see a room under construction. Anyone that Shadow Weaver has gotten to touch the gem she used as the key will see the actual room.” She nodded to Shadow Weaver. 

“As well.. As I mentioned, We have Horde Alpha here. But Hordak called him - or..” She glanced at Hordak, looking him carefully in the eyes, “Uh, you called them, ‘them’ right?” 

“Yes.” He said. “Technically, all the clones are ‘them.’ In fact, the universal common language doesn’t have gender specific pronouns. Binary gender identities are… relatively pointless and mostly non-existent in the wider, developed universe.” He glanced around at the others, “In fact, a language relying on binary pronouns is considered backwards and archaic.” 

“But.. sir, you’ve always gone as a ‘he’?” Scorpia said. 

“I simply don’t care what I’m called. I was unfamiliary with your pronouns, and by the time I understood them I was referred to as “he”.” 

“Would you prefer-“

“No, again, I don’t care one way or another.” He was also used to being “him” now, and honestly, he didn’t want more change. Quite frankly he had had enough change. The latest change, the knowledge about what he was seemed surreal, like it hadn’t hit himyet, He felt like he should be more bothered than he was, like he should feel different. 

Maybe his brain had broken, and was simply refusing to accept the knowledge. 

“Right. Well. DH. DH is apparently an ally against Horde Prime, but will be acting as Horde Prime’s proper representative for the most part. Do not discuss anything we say here with them when you see them. They have an implant and anything you say to them, you might as well say to Horde Prime. Hordak and Entrapta are working on opening a secure line of communication with them.” She nodded, and turned to her left, away from Hordak, “Adora, do you have any updates?”

There was a moment of silence around the table. Hordak was sitting to her right, and he and everyone else around the table had figured that she’d get him to give his updates first as he and Entrapta had a lot of new information to give. 

Adora looked at Hordak, then to Glimmer, and cleared her throat, “Yes, well. Uh. I’ve been working with Scorpia to develop a training program and a self-defense program for the other princesses-“ 

“That’s not even necessary.” Mermista huffed, “We can use our magic, we don’t need-“ 

“You can use your magic until the point where your magic decides not to work.” Hordak said, “Horde Prime’s army won’t be relying on something so unreliable as magic.”

“I take offense to magic being called ‘unreliable.’” Shadow Weaver said, “Mine has always worked, provided I have the proper resources.” 

“And like, my magic has never - not- worked.” Mermista said.

“Mine has.” Glimmer said firmly, “So… Just in case. It can’t hurt.” 

Mermista frowned, glanced at Hordak, and then quickly looked away. “Fine.” She muttered. Hordak raised a brow- he had expected more pushback, or at least a snarky comment. 

“I think we’ve got the basics down, and we should be ready to start a course of training tomorrow.” Adora added.

, “I’ve been working with the Fright Team as well-“ Bow started, but he was cut off by Scorpia. 

“We really don’t like that name.” Scorpia said, “And we do have a few suggestions for what we could be called-“ She glanced at Bow, “Oh. Oh sorry, no, I’ll mention that on my turn. You go ahead.” 

Bow cleared his throat, “And… if we’re going to learn how to defend ourselves like the Horde, then we might need some more advanced weaponry. The tasers we can produce ourselves, but more advanced robotics we’ll need Princess Entrapta and Hordak’s help… when they can. From what I can see, our biggest problem right now is a lack of technical and mechanical resources.” He frowned, “And… I think the best place to get that is out in the Crimson Wastes.” 

“Oh! Yes! I knew there was a BIG source of first ones tech out in the Crimson Wastes! I wish I had gotten to go but… Hordak said it was too dangerous. But I’m going this time!” 

“That may not be entirely wise.” Hordak said. 

“Of course it is.” Entrapta responded, “I mean, I could easily see something that the others might miss!”

“Entrapta is the authority on First One’s tech.” Bow added.

“And if Entrapta is going to the Crimson Wastes, Do I assume you’ll be going as well, Hordak?” Glimmer asked with the slightest of smiles.

“Of course.” Hordak said with a frown. His wings puffed out a little. Interesting. They also did that when he was excited, but unlike the movements of his ears, he could control the wings a little. He took a breath and tried to relax the muscles on his back, letting his shoulders droop, “Of course. My expertise in robotics is still second in Etheria, and we’ll be able to sort through more that way-“ 

“Come on Hordak,” Mermista said with an eye-roll, “You can just say you’re worried about Entrapta, and you want to go with her to protect her, you kno- Oi.” She frowned at Perfuma who was sitting next to her, “What was that for?”

“It’s not your turn.” Perfuma said, folding her hands on the table as she gave Mermista a strange look. Mermista was quiet for a moment, then a look of comprehension seemed to flow over her face, and she was silent. 

What was going on? The princesses were acting strange. More strange than they normally did. Hordak had honestly been expecting a slew of questions the moment he set foot into the meeting room, but he had been met instead with polite greetings, and vague inquiries to his health. 

Except for Shadow Weaver, who - very oddly- had asked if he was certain that he had gotten enough rest during his three day recovery, as he looked rather tired. Hordak was very glad that she was unable to read his ears when he said that yes, he felt much better and very well rested. He also hoped that she didn’t notice the slight flush that crept over his ears and cheeks as he responded. 

Glimmer cleared her throat, “Right. We’ll form a team to go into the Crimson Wastes and retrieve the needed tech.” She looked at Adora, “You can get in touch with Huntara?”

“Yes. We’ve kept in touch, and she’ll help us I’m sure… Though.” She glanced at Hordak, “It might cause a little disruption if Hordak comes. Not everyone in the Crimson Wastes is friendly to the Horde.”

“Not everyone in the Crimson Wastes is friendly.” Glimmer said, “So I don’t think that's much of a concern. Either his presence will draw aggression to you, or scare people off. We have no way of knowing right now.” 

Hordak nodded. Despite his physical changes he was sure he’d still be recognized. How much of the current events had reached the Crimson Wastes? He wasn’t sure. Was he still considered the Lord of the Fright Zone over there?

“Shadow Weaver?” Glimmer said, “Any updates?”

“I’ve found a collection of relatively archaic welcoming rituals and peace rituals we can insist on performing. Some of them involve a presence in Mystacor, which would mean Inviting Horde Prime to Mystacor.” 

Glimmer frowned, “I don’t know that they’ll want to do that.”

“They did send word that they were sending an envoy to Bright Moon, did they not? We can discuss it with them when they arrive.” 

Glimmer nodded, then turned to Mermista, “Mermista, an update from you?”

“Actually.” She said, “We all thought it might be better if we all held our own welcoming ceremonies for Horde Prime, make him go through it with each kingdom. That could take weeks as everything is prepared. So, for Salineas, we’ll be holding, like, a regatta, I think. Basically, all the major representatives should be there…” She glanced at Hordak, “Though.. You’ll be too busy for that, won’t you?”

“Oh, that’s right!” Glimmer said, “I nearly forgot. Hordak is being made the official Horde Representative for Bright Moon. Normally we’d hold a party to celebrate the appointment…” She glanced at Hordak, “But I’m guessing you’d rather skip that?”

Hordak frowned, “What I want is irrelevant. Such an event would buy more time, and as such I think- ideally- it should go ahead. However… there is one problem.” 

“Which is?”

“Hordak’s ears.” Entrapta said, rising out of her seat a little, “I mean, you might have noticed, they tend to move around-“ 

“Yeah!” Frosta said, “They twitch more. Like they did before.” 

“Right. But Hordak’s kind can really read that. It’s like a part of their language, and it’s involuntary.”

“What does that mean?” Frosta asked.

Hordak cleared his throat, “It means.” He said, “That there’s subtle movements that would be read as tone when listening to our language, even though it isn’t used anymore. It means that when a clone is happy, or angry, hesitant, worried.. anything, the ears will signal that.” 

“That sounds … inconvenient.” Mermista said, “To have everyone know what you’re feeling all the time?”

“Yes.” Hordak said, suppressing a sigh, “It’s less so when everyone else around you has the same thing. But the problem is that there’s also a specific way they move when one of my kind is performing a deception.” 

There was a long pause around the table as his words sunk in. 

“... Shit.” Mermista finally said, “That means you like, literally cannot lie to Horde Prime.” 

“Correct.” 

“Ooooh. That’s why you got so mad when you learned that Catra lied to you.” Scorpia said, her eyes widening in comprehension, “I mean, I get that she lied about Shadow Weaver, but even I felt it was a bit much to send her off. But I guess if you can’t lie… That means you’ve never grew up with lying and stuff, and -“

“Anyway.” Glimmer said, speaking loudly over Scorpia as she gave her a pointed stare, “That.. that means you can’t attend these events.” 

“Correct.” 

“But will Prime request you?”

“Likely.” Hordak said, “At the very least your Horde Representative will be expected to attend, regardless of who it is. But I have a solution to that. I need to get in touch with one of the people I met in Mystacor when we were there. They go by the name ‘Double Trouble’. If you’re having an envoy come soon, can you ask for them?”

“Double Trouble?” Glimmer said, tilting her head, “I mean, I can. Will they come?”

Hordak gave a deep sigh. He had honestly been hoping for more of a break from Double Trouble, “I think so, yes. They were… very interested in ‘assisting.’” He considered this for a moment, “Though, from what I know, they consider themselves a free agent, so it’s best to have them assist without telling them everything.” 

Glimmer nodded, “Alright. Very well. I’ll see if we can send for them.” She turned to Perfuma, “Perfuma, does Plumeria have a -“ 

“Oh we have the best event! It’s a tea ceremony that we can hold, followed by a day long tour of the gardens.” 

“Frosta?”

“There’s a snow festival, but Horde Prime won’t want to go to that, will he?” She asked Hordak. 

“He won’t be happy about it, but he’ll go.” Hordak said, frowning, “Provide accommodations for him. Make sure he’s warm. It would be considered rude to force a species into a climate that’s so unnaturally uncomfortable for them.” 

“Shouldn’t we make him uncomfortable.” Frosta said, her eyes narrowing, “Because of everything he’s done to you?”

Hordak caught Perfuma trying to shush her quickly. He frowned, “If you do, he’ll believe that I have failed in my duties as Horde Representative to Bright Moon, or worse, that you’re deliberately trying to insult him. Either way, if he gets irritated or frustrated, he’ll decide to take the less diplomatic approach.” He looked to Perfuma, then to Glimmer, “Now, I must interrupt with my own question. What exactly is going on.” 

“ … What?” Glimmer said, looking at him with a nearly panicked expression.” 

“I came in here, fully expecting to be jumped upon with questions, but you’re all acting like there’s nothing different. You’re all acting… “ He frowned, “Different. If I didn’t know you, I’d almost say you were acting normal.”

There was silence around the table, then Frosta spoke up, “Glimmer said not to ask you any questions!” She said suddenly. 

“Frosta!” 

“Well, he knows something’s up!” Frosta said to Glimmer, then turned back to Hordak, “Glimmer said not to ask you any questions, because you had been through a lot, and we shouldn’t overwhelm you. And Perfuma said the same thing!” 

Hordak sighed, then turned to Glimmer, “Queen Glimmer?”

“Y-yes.” 

“.. Thank you.” He said quickly, “I appreciate that, but I’d rather get the questions out of the way so everyone acts relatively normal once more.” 

“Did you want to go next then?” She asked carefully, “Present your.. Research?”

Hordak frowned, then nodded, “I might as well.” He said, “I imagine the rest of the information from the princesses is about the specific celebrations that we might experience?” They nodded, “I don’t see why it’s necessary to go over each one. I do think that having each kingdom hold their own ceremony is an excellent idea though. That will buy us a lot of time, and if you make it in Horde Prime’s honor, then he’ll be quite pleased with it.” He turned to Scorpia, “Any updates from my former troops?”

“Well, we all want to help with the training, and we want to assist you in any way, if we can. I think if we have to go to the Crimson Wastes, then everyone will be happy to form a squad and act as extra defense. But our biggest concern… Is this whole ‘Fright Team’ thing.” She frowned, “We don’t like that. We have some suggestions for other names, but-“ 

Hordak waved a hand, “I don’t think that a singular name for everyone from the Fright Zone is wise.” He said, “Names like that causes division, and separation. At this moment we need to work as a unit to bring down Horde Prime. I do not think that “team” names will be useful. ‘Princess Alliance’ or ‘Horde’ isn’t beneficial at this time.” He was silent for a moment, as everyone looked at him in surprise, “What?” He said, “This is basic information. That’s why I bothered to call my army on Etheria ‘The Horde’ in the first place. To create an us/them dynamic and create a sense of unity among my troops.” 

“... So we shouldn’t use ‘The Princess Alliance’ Anymore either?” Bow asked quietly. 

“I don’t recommend it.” 

The princesses looked rather downtrodden all of a sudden, and Hordak cursed himself. Yes, having a division within their group would cause some issues, but dissolving a team - or at least discontinuing a team name with emotional attachment- could cause issues with morale. He thought quickly, trying to fix this before it became a bigger problem. 

He had it. 

“The Etherian Defense.” He said simply. The others looked up at him, confused, 

“... What?” Glimmer asked. 

“The Etherian Defense.” He said, “If you -need- some kind of name to define yourself, that might work. It has nothing to do with kingdoms, or previous affiliations. It includes everyone who wishes to defend Etheria from Horde Prime.” He tilted his head at Glimmer, “That’s relatively basic, isn’t it.” 

“I like it!” Scorpia said suddenly, her eyes glittering, “The Etherian Defense. It sounds…” 

“It sounds Badass.” Mermista muttered, “I can deal with it.” She glanced at Hordak, “Ok, I guess you’re not crap at names.” 

Hordak sighed, “As I explained, ‘The Fright Zone’ is derived from-“ 

“I know, I know. I’m just poking fun.”

Hordak blinked at her, then shook her head. Someone having fun at his expense, but with no malicious intent? - that was something new which he was also getting used to. 

“So… If that’s all from you guys, then… Hordak?” Glimmer turned to Hordak, “What did you learn.” 

Hordak sighed, He didn’t want to go over all this, but he had to. He knew he had to explain everything, but it was so much. How could he keep it simple. 

“Hordak isn’t a clone!” Entrapta said quickly. 

Silence from the princesses. Hordak cleared his throat, and decided that with that bandage pulled off, he might as well show off the wound. 

“Indeed.” He said, “Horde Prime apparently attempted to create non-clone individuals in order to restore the Chilacian race. It was part of a project he had been working on called, ‘Project Rebirth.’ And…It didn’t work out so well.” 

“What happened?” Frosta asked. 

Hordak took a deep breath. He knew that as he explained this, he was probably going to get ‘the look’ from the princesses that he was slowly starting to get used to. He hated it though - it was a pitying look. “Well… The clones have undergone further genetic alterations from the point when they were originally created.” He said, “They have been - in a sense - designed for Horde Prime’s society.. system.” 

“You mean to being his slaves.” Mermista hissed. Hordak ignored her. 

“The conditioning that clones go through in their formative years in the tank, as well as their training afterwards was planned with the alterations in mind. As such, the same conditioning on the individuals was not particularly beneficial, nor as effective -“

“The ones that weren’t cloned have free will.” Entrapta said, “I mean, they all have free will, I think, but the clones choose not to use it?”

Hordak nodded, “Essentially.” He said, “I looked over some of the technical logs from the earlier days of Horde Prime’s alterations, and his work makes them far more susceptible to his conditioning, and as such they are bred with unwavering loyalty and obedience. More important than free will though is empathy.” He shrugged, “Clones don’t have it.” He continued quickly, because he could see Frosta at least getting ready to say something angry, “The individuals do. When I was … Removed from my position, the new Chilacians didn’t consider this right because of their empathy and because the conditioning was far less effective on them..They rebelled.” 

“So there’s a group of them out there?” Adora said, standing up with her hands on the table, “A group of Chilacians out there, who rebelled against Prime, and -“

Hordak held up a hand to quiet her, “Potentially. Likely not though. Horde Prime killed most of them, hunted down what he could, and performed a variety of experiments on the ones he had caught… Which brings me to the next project he worked on.” 

He found for a moment that he couldn’t speak. Reading the information about Project Ascension had been very difficult for him, and for a moment, he wasn’t sure that he could talk about it. He felt Entrapta’s hair on his wrist, squeezing gently. After a moment, Entrapta began to speak instead. 

“Horde Prime decided that he’d use his existing clone army to create biological robots.” She said. “Personally, I think normal robots would have been better, but according to the notes we found it was just considered logistically easier to slowly transfer over to a new system rather than start from scratch with brand new robots.” She shook her head, “It’s very fascinating, and there’s a certain melding of tech and biology that’s… just honestly impressive, but…” She frowned as she looked at Hordak quickly, “Horde Prime realized that the mental variation he saw in his Rebirth project was beneficial. The variation provided better ideas and plans, and even the empathy that he had worked out of his clones allowed his soldiers to plan better in response to what an enemy might do. Logic when dealing with people can only go so far. He wanted to keep that variation, but he wanted to control it.” 

“So what did he do.” Adora asked, her voice quiet. 

“The clones that were too far developed were altered directly.” He said, “The … The ears were removed to help suppress what would be considered needless communication among the clones. The implants and the brain alterations were early attempts at Project Ascension, and allowed Horde Prime to test programs for his primary objective. He found the access to memories and immediate access to audio and visual to be useful, so he implemented it for all clones.” He noticed he was digging into the table with his claws, so he took a deep breath and retracted them. After a few moments of focused breathing he was able to continue, “DH- Horde Alpha- is the first full product of Project Ascension.”

“... Hordak.” Perfuma said slowly, “You don’t have to continue” 

Hordak blinked as he looked over at Perfuma. Was he so transparent? He thought that -despite his claws- he was doing well. 

“I’m fine.” He said, taking several deep breaths before continuing. He wanted to just let Entrapta explain it, but she’d get excited, and go into more detail than the other princesses would understand, “Basically, a robotic shell is created, and programmed the way Horde Prime wants it programmed. It is able to extract information from a system, and then use that information to execute Horde Prime’s orders. The individual - in this case, DH- has their mind hooked up to a system that relays the brain’s feed directly to the robotic shell, and-“ He caught the empty looks on the princesses faces, and sighed, “Basically, DH’s brain is hooked up to a robot that can access all their knowledge and ideas, but uses that to execute Horde Prime’s orders.”

“I don’t really understand.” Frosta said. 

“Ok!” Entrapta said, rising up out of her seat once more. She pointed to Perfuma- “If you saw a spider on the table, what would you do?”

“Me?” Perfuma said, taken aback, “I’d… I’d scoop it up and take it outside.” 

“Yes. But is that the fastest, most effective way to get rid of a spider?”

Perfuma blinked, “What do you mean.” 

“You’d consider killing it, wouldn’t you?” Entrapta asked, “You’d think about it, even if you’d never do it, right?”

Perfuma frowned, “Well… Well, yes, but I wouldn’t kill a poor little spider!” 

“But if you were hooked up to this robot, you would. That robot would extract the information, and use it” Entrapta said, “And if you happened to know a more effective way to kill it, the robot would do that.” She looked at Adora, “If you were hooked up to it, and you were given the Order to kill.. well, say to kill all of us-“ 

“I’d never!” 

“No, you wouldn’t.” Hordak said, having calmed down a little, “But that robot would be able to extract all your knowledge of us, all our weaknesses, and it would use that information to kill us each as efficiently as possible.” 

‘.. That.. Sir, that’s .. that’s more than awful!” Scorpia said as she stood up, “That’s… that’s.”

“That’s efficient.” Hordak said, “That’s all Prime really cares about now.” 

“So, this DH. If Horde Prime -“ 

“Scorpia-“ Entrapta said quickly, “Can we not talk about DH for the moment?” 

Hordak hadn’t realized that his breathing had stopped. 

DH. That was what had made reading Project Ascension so hard. He realized that if DH were ordered to kill him, then they would have to. DH would be forced to watch as the body they were linked to attacked and killed Hordak. They wouldn’t be able to close their eyes and look away because the images would be sent directly to their brains. They wouldn’t be able to resist. They wouldn’t be able to stop. 

And afterwards, they’d be all alone. They’d be stuck either looking at the world through the robot they were linked to, or trapped in a void of darkness and nothingness when the robot was turned off. 

Death would be a relief, but Horde Prime had apparently found a way to circumvent that for the time. Hordak hadn’t bothered to look that up yet. Probably it was the same technique he used to keep himself alive for so long. 

Hordak realized he had been silent, breathing heavily for a few minutes. He cleared his voice, and tried to focus on Entrapta. In her research while he was sick, she had discovered that his species did originally pack bond though touch, and that being close to someone you were pack bonded - or in Entrapta’s case, pair bonded with - had a calming effect. That was probably why Perfuma’s grounding practice had worked so well - Entrapta was there and her touch, her presence, was calming. 

It also explained why DH had been so touchy, and why Hordak hadn’t minded it like the others. They were trying to pack bond without even knowing it. They were driven to touch and to connect in a way the clones no longer could and no longer wanted to. They had been trying to live like normal Chilacians. 

Hordak cleared his throat, “Right.” He said, “Right. So. My plan. First, I get in contact with DH. They might have further information that we can use. My replication of the implant is complete, and I have several ideas as to how I can use it to.. disable the clones.” Kill. To kill the clones. Maybe DH would have a better idea. But was it worth it? Was death a kinder fate for them? “Once we have established a line of communication with DH, we then have an inside source of information. Our plans will adapt based on that.”

“How long will that take?” Glimmer asked. 

“I’m working on that.” Entrapta said, “And I should have it done by day’s end.” 

Hordak nodded. “That… is all we have for now.” He said, looking down at the claw marks he had left in the table, feeling ashamed for his lack of control as his ears and his face flushed, “Any questions.”

There was a long silence, then finally, Frosta spoke, “Why do you have wings now?”

“Frosta! You shouldn’t just ask-“

“It’s fine.” Hordak said. That had been what he had expected from the start and somehow he felt better now that someone had outright asked about them. Despite himself, Hordak felt his mouth twitch up in a half smile, “I apparently had them before-“ 

“-As I said you must have.” Shadow Weaver said. 

“-but I was still in development in the vitrine, so I have no memory of it. When Adora healed me from the results of my detox, they were restored as well.

“Does that mean you can fly.” 

“I cannot.” 

“Chilacians can’t fly?” Bow asked. 

“Well.. They probably can.” 

“But.. you can’t?”

Hordak felt his ears flick down and flush as he glared at Bow, “Let’s throw a pair of wings on you, and see how quickly you can fly.” He hissed. 

“... It worked on Swift Wind.” 

“I - Thankfully- am not Swift Wind. Also, those wings were magically created, not healed and restored. I believe different rules apply.” 

“Yeah.” Mermista said with a chuckle, “ esides, if you did to Hordak what you did to Swift Wind, we’d have a loud, rainbow Hordak calling himself something like “Star Light”” 

Hordak sighed as he leaned forward, resting his head in his hand, “Yes. Thankfully, that is not the case.

“... Can I touch your wings?” Frosta asked. 

Hordak looked across the table at her, confused. Why would she want to? “.. If you want?” He said cautiously. Frosta practically jumped out of her seat and went over to Hordak, gently touching the thin membrane of his wings which were draped over his shoulders. 

“Why are you using them like a cape?” She asked. 

“It’s more comfortable?” He ventured. 

“Hordak’s species is relatively bat-like” Entrapta interjected, “And they tend to wrap their wings around themselves.” 

“They’re so soft.” Frosta said quietly. Hordak was sure that nobody else heard her. 

“.... Can I touch them next?” Perfuma asked cautiously. 

“I … I don’t think we should all just be asking to touch Hordak’s wings.” Glimmer said, looking at Frosta with the same confusion that Hordak had felt. 

“I don’t really care.” Hordak said, “Get it out of your system now so you’re not focusing on my wings, and not me when we’re working in the future.” 

Hordak hadn’t expected this meeting to end with half the princesses gathered around his wings, gently feeling the soft membrane between the bones, though there was a lot that had happened that he hadn’t expected in the last while, and honestly this was the least surprising of it so far. 

  
  
  
  
  
  



	67. Chat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone. 
> 
> You know your views, your comment, your enjoyment of my fic fuels me. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy when I’m down. 
> 
> Thank you so much :D 
> 
> Stay home and stay safe!

“Alright.” Entrapta said as she finished her work. Her voice drew Hordak from his own study regarding the programming of the implant which was simple, effective, and efficient. The relays that ran through the brain and to the central processor allowed an almost perfect transmission of information, and the security and safety measures made it nearly impossible to hack and alter. 

Nearly. 

“Alright?” Hordak said as he looked up at her. She came over to where Hordak was sitting and plugged something into his computer. 

“I think I got through to DH” She said, “Though Prime does all of his programming in Chilacian, I was able to find the information I needed. I think this should work.” She grinned at Hordak, “I can’t speak it, but I can read it at least.” 

A black screen that looked much like a simple command screen popped up on the computer. Hordak hovered his fingers over the keyboard, wondering if he should type something first, and wondering what he should say. Was this line of communication actually secure?

>> Please confirm your identity. 

Hordak stared at the glowing green letters on the screen. Confirm his identity? He frowned and typed “T1” which was something that Horde Prime probably wouldn’t recognize as him if this wasn’t a secure line of communication 

>>Password?

Password? He didn’t have a password for this system, and even if one of his old passwords worked, that would alert Prime to his presence in his system. Had they gotten into the wrong system somehow? No, he was certain he had gotten the files that DH had told him to find, and Entrapta was brilliant, so he was certain that she didn’t make a mistake. 

Wait. No. It occured to Hordak that there was no password. If Hordak knew DH then this was just a test, a fake screening. DH had no way to know who was on the other side of the screen, so he needed to make sure it was Hordak. He was doing the same thing that Hordak had done in the mines with the notes he had hummed - testing to see If he was actually who he said he was. He just needed to give DH something that would convince him that he was T1. 

He typed in the name of a small bar in the underground of Haxtaval.

**DH: I expected you to give me the name of the musical you hummed earlier, but I’m glad you remember that place**!

Hordak could almost hear DH as he had been before he was placed in the head of that robot. The excitement they might have had, the movement of their ears, the way they’d tilt their head as they spoke. 

“You ok?” Entrapta asked softly as she watched the words on the screen. 

“Yes.” Hordak said, “Yes.” He blinked rapidly, and started typing again. 

**T1: Are you ok?**

**DH: As good as I can be, yes. I’m not in pain, I promise. I don’t feel much of anything in fact. **

**T1: I’m going to get you out of there. **

**DH: If anyone could, it’s you! But first, now that we have some time, we have something important to discuss. **

**T1: Prime’s projects. **

**DH: No! Well, yes, eventually, but before that, something more important to discuss!**

**T1: Our plans to take down Horde Prime?**

**DH: More important than that!**

Hordak was confused. What was more important at this moment? 

**T1: What do we need to discuss?**

**DH: First thing I need to know: Princess Entrapta! Tell me all about her! How did she end up being your mate!? How did you two meet! What’s she like! Will she like me?**

Entrapta, who was reading over Hordak’s shoulder, laughed and went back to her computer, “Go on, have your girl talk with DH.” She said as she sat back down at her computer, “I’m going to work on some ideas for combat bots. If I know what we want to make, it’ll be easier to find what we need.” She looked back at Hordak, smiling with relief, “You know. I was worried they didn’t like me, because they sounded… Odd” 

“That was the robot.” Hordak assured Entrapta, “There’s not many people that DH would outright dislike. Not without very good reason.” She smiled at her, “He’s… a little like you in that regard.” 

Entrapta beamed, “Tell them I can’t wait to meet them right after I’m done dissecting Horde Prime.” She pondered that for a moment, “Alive. It might take longer, he might struggle.”

Hordak blinked at Entrapta, his ears tilted down slightly, his eyes wide. She caught his look and smiled at him, “He’s made you suffer.” She said as though she were simply stating a well known scientific fact, “So, I’m going to make him suffer. A lot. And I’m going to enjoy it, AND I’m going to learn from it!” She beamed at Hordak, “So, he gets dissected. Alive.” 

Hordak turned back to the computer. 

**T1: She says she’s excited to see you after she’s done torturing Horde Prime. **

**DH: Good! But rescue me first, I want to help.**

  
  


He couldn’t remember what he was about to say, but the thought suddenly came into his head, unbidden, ‘I’m not a clone.’ It was like he’d forget that fact occasionally, and it would float back into his head, reminding him. In that moment he felt the slightest pang of … guilt? That everyone he cared about wanted to kill his progenitor, but then the thought reminded him that Horde Prime was nothing to him. 

Well, he had created him, but he wasn’t responsible for his existence Hordak wasn’t just his copy. 

‘I have parents… had.’ That thought crept into his head as well. Thousands of years ago he had chilacian parents who had died, and whose genetic material had been harvested and saved. A pointless, needless piece of information as he’d never meet them. They probably weren’t even a couple, just random DNA placed together. 

He wondered what they had been like. 

The computer pinged. Hordak glanced down at the screen, hoping for a distraction. 

**DH: So. Entrapta. You introduced her as your ‘mate.’ I know this might likely be something you don’t feel like you can discuss...But do you actually know what it entails to have a ‘mate?’ **

Hordak felt his ears flush as he glanced around to check that Entrapta was focused on her work. 

**T1: I am informed, yes.**

**DH: I mean, we have a whole race, T1. Do you have any idea of the information I’ve come across in Horde Prime’s computers? We were a race called the Chilacians! We had our own planet!**

**T1: Surprisingly, this planet for some reason has a relatively advanced database of universal knowledge. I’ve been informed. I have a decent library of information in my hands at the moment. **

**DH: So.. you know how that works for us? Mating, I mean.**

Wait. What? Did he know how that worked? Of course he did. 

Mostly. He knew the basics from experimentation with Entrapta and the information that Light Hope had given him. He figured that there might be more, but…

Well, it wasn’t as though Prime’s Horde had comprehensive sex education. Regardless, he didn’t necessarily want to have that talk to DH right now. 

**T1: I’m fairly confident that I know what I’m doing. **

**DH: So you and Entrapta cycled?**

Cycled? That was a new term, and one he wasn’t familiar with. He really didn’t want to ask but… he bent forward, and typed. 

**T1: I have not come across that particular phrase before. **

Hordak watched the screen, his ears flicking as he waited. He did not want to talk about this, but DH might have vital information. 

After what felt like a long time, DH sent another message. 

**DH: Did you go into rut, or heat?**

Hordak glanced again over at Entrapta, his ears burning. She had made a joke about him and DH having a ‘girl talk,’ but now he wondered if she was right, and if this was the kind of stuff that she talked about to the other princesses.

…Could he talk about this to DH? 

There was a certain amount of information that he assumed that Entrapta had shared, and certain things he felt she would keep to herself- especially about his own anatomy, and some other aspects that he clearly wanted kept private. As such, with a flushed face and droopy ears, he decided that he could at least tell DH a few things if it came to it. 

**T1:Yes. I went into rut. **

**DH: Really? I always thought you’d be a sender, not a receiver. Well, once I learned about all that anyway. **

**T1: Why would you even think that? Why would you think about that!?**

**DH: can you honestly tell me that you didn’t once wonder what I’d be?**

**T1: Not enough to have an opinion! **

DH was silent for a long time. Hordak worried that maybe he’d been too sharp. If DH was there with him in person, if DH could see how flustered he was, he’d know he wasn’t angry. 

This would be easier to talk about face to face, he decided. 

**DH: You realize that if you hadn’t been sent away, we likely would have cycled, right? **

**T1: you still haven’t explained that term. Cycled?**

**DH: That’s when you and your mate’s hormones sync up and you go through a mating cycle.**

Hordak leaned forward, his face in his hands, his ears bright blue. 

“Oooh.” Entrapta said as she glanced over, “Is DH asking all the dirty questions?” 

“He is not!” Hordak insisted, turning around quickly with his face deeply flushed, “And I’d never tell him-“ 

“Tell him what you want.” Entrapta said as she moved from her desk to the box of junk they had collected, followed by Emily who was carrying her tools on her head. “I mean, we all gotta have someone to confide in.” 

Hordak felt his ears go limp, “You confide in someone... About me?”

“Of course.” 

Hordak swallowed, “Can I ask who?”

“Emily, obviously.” 

Hordak glanced at the bot who turned to Hordak and beeped happily. He relaxed a little, and turned back to the computer to look at the words that DH had written. 

What did he even say to that? He was trying to think of how to respond when he got another message. 

**DH: It’s a matter of biology for us. You end up pair bonding with the person you’re closest with- given certain circumstances. I mean, it would have taken a lot longer because of the Perma Frost, but….**

**DH: So… you and Entrapta cycled. And you bonded. **

**T1: Yes. **

**DH: and you know that’s for life for you, yes?**

**T1: I’m -very- aware.**

**DH: And she’s aware?**

**T1: Yes. **

**DH: Then I am very glad! I was a little worried at first that maybe you didn’t know. **

**T1: I didn’t at first. I do now. **

**DH: So, what’s she like? I only met her for a moment. Her hair seems interesting!**

**T1: Ah, yes. Prehensile hair. Not a common feature among Etherians. In fact, she’s the only one with Prehensile hair that I've ever met. As for what she’s like... You’ll have to meet her for yourself. You’ll like her, I promise. She is the most intelligent, most passionate person I’ve met. She also possesses an uncommon kindness that I was not prepared for. Not here at any rate. **

**DH: Ethernia is not filled with kind people?**

**T1: That all depends. I didn’t experience many kind people when I landed here. To be fair to them, they were highly isolated and their language -as you know- is a strange, primitive offshoot of Universal Common. I showed up out of nowhere, looking like nothing they had ever seen before, speaking a language none of them could understand. They were afraid, and I had been thrown onto this planet without any resources to help me.**

**DH: Right! That’s something I couldn’t get out of my files! How did you get here? How did you survive? Horde Prime hasn’t updated any blackbox information, and all the information I found showed you as a little blip on the edge of a singularity, and then *pop* gone. **

Hordak, grateful to have the conversation veer quickly away from his sex life, was more than happy to tell DH about how he landed here, and hopefully with Perfuma’s help and Entrapta so close he would be able to avoid a full panic attack as he went over the details. 

======

Hordak had managed to tell DH everything about how he ended up on Etheria without having a full panic attack, but it had been a close thing. They decided to leave off talking about the actual plan until the morning, with DH making a little jest about how he didn’t want Entrapta to hate him for taking up all of Hordak’s time

That was good, Hordak needed to stop. 

The computer was running on low power mode for the moment and the lights were dimmed. He hadn’t had a panic attack, but he still felt uneasy. He felt like he might be on the verge of it, and as though all the memories of being outcast, thrown into combat, and then his crash on Etheria might suddenly topple down on him. 

He got up from his seat, and walked over to Entrapta. For a moment he felt a hint of shame for what he was about to do, but then he reminded himself that he was not a clone. 

Not a clone. 

Not a clone damnit. He wasn’t genetically modified to be superior. He wasn’t created to be an advanced species, a warrior, or a general. He was born without alterations. He was just some individual, a Chilacian. Just himself. 

And while he was still learning about their culture and their ways from the data on the datapad, he knew well enough at this point that Chilacians did- as he clearly did- need some comfort from time to time. 

As such, he found himself able to stand behind Entrapta, kneel down, and wrap his arms around her from behind as he buried his face in the back of her neck. 

As she felt him embrace her she turned around, and pulled him into her, wrapping her arms and hair around him. “You ok?” She asked. He nodded. 

“I just… it’s been a lot.” 

Entrapta reached up and started playing with his hair - something that always managed to calm him down. “I know.” She said. She glanced at the time, her eyes widening suddenly as she realized how late it was growing. “Maybe it’s time to call it a day.” She said. 

Hordak nodded as he made his way to the bed. He stopped, and looked around for his nightgown, but Entrapta pushed closed the lock she had made for their door and started to pull off her clothes, slipping in under the covers without worrying about her pajamas. 

Hordak felt he should comment that Glimmer could just teleport in, but he honestly felt too mentally tired to care. He felt so tired, and the bed looked so comfortable. He started pulling his dress off, only to have the back get caught in his wings. He yelped as the fabric of the dress pulled on the new wings and muttered a curse under his breath when Entreapta had to help him. 

“If it helps.” Entrapta said, “I think you’re cute with wings.” 

Now free of his dress, Hordak slipped in next to Entrapta.

“Hey...Hordak?”

“Yes?”

“.... Could you wrap me in your wings again? That was nice.” 

Hordak felt like his chest might burst as he gently pulled her towards him and maneuvered himself, pulling his wings so that he was mostly able to wrap them around Entrapta. She snuggled into him, letting her hair twist out around his wings and twining with his limbs. He was already feeling better, already feeling calmer and more centered. 

“Did you have a good talk with DH?” Entrapta asked softly. Hordak nodded before nuzzling into her neck. 

“Give him lots of good gossip?” 

Hordak gave a little groan as Entrapta giggled. “I thought they were about to try to have a talk about the facts of life.” He said as his face burned, “I was not expecting that. I managed to tell him I was informed.” 

“Did he have any new information?”

“We didn’t..Get into details.” He said. He pressed his hot face to her neck, “I’m… surprised you seem so at ease with the potential of me discussing that kind of thing with them.” 

“Hordak, DH is the ONLY person you can talk to about this, or who could talk to you. I mean, at least I had more resources growing up. We have the disc, but it’s difficult to find what we need all the time.” 

Still flushed, hordak nodded into her. “We mostly talked about.. Well, they wanted to know how I got here. How I survived combat.” 

“You’ve still not told me that, you know?” Entrapta said, “I want to know, but you’ve not told me.. And I didn’t want to push you.

Hordak felt a lot calmer now that he was holding Entrapta, now that her hair was around him. It felt right, embracing her with his wings and forming a little cocoon of warmth and comfort around them. Imp had fallen asleep on the foot of the bed ages ago, and because of that not even Hordak’s feet were cold tonight. 

“I think I can tell you.” He finally said. 

“You sure?” 

Hordak nodded and slowly gathered his thoughts to tell Entrapta about his crash on Etheria, and that night in the Whispering Woods. 


	68. First Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!
> 
> updating tonight because I plan to sleep in tomorrow. 
> 
> I hope you all appreciate the research I did for this chapter. *Shudders*
> 
> As always, enjoy, stay safe, and stay inside.

There was a flash. 

At first they thought maybe the singularity had exploded but it became clear that that wasn’t the case. They were spiraling through space as new alarms sounded. Something had broken- one of the main thrusters by the feel of it, and they were sent in a continuous barrel roll. 

Their eyes adjusted, and they could see ... a planet? It was hard to tell what they were looking at while they were spinning down, and droplets - from rain, they suspected- now covered their windshield. They were too close to the planet though - they could see that. They were spirling over the thick canopy of a forest. They were going to crash. When had they managed to enter the atmosphere? More importantly, how had they entered the atmosphere so quickly? And what planet was this? The ones they were fighting over didn’t have forests like one they were quickly approaching.

A glance out the window and they saw their right thrusters on fire. The left one was pushing them forward, causing the tailspin they were stuck in as they raced towards the ground. 

They slammed the eject button. Their pilot's chamber turned into an emergency pod and went flying through the air over giant trees and through the thick canopy. They struck something; the pod broke open, scattering debris and throwing the hordak as they plummeted through branches and hit the ground hard. Their breath was driven from their lungs, and they heard something snap in their legs along with a pitched, frantic screech of pain. It took them a moment to realize that the screech of pain had come from themselves. 

Somewhere far behind them, their ship hit the ground. They heard it break through the canopy somewhere further in the forest, and could feel the vibrations in the dirt under them as it landed. 

Good. It was nearby.

Then the pain in their leg hit their conscious mind- sharp and sudden. They tried to gasp for air through the pain but there was something wrong with the air- it almost felt cold on their lungs, like tiny knives stabbing them as they inhaled. 

There was a sudden flash of light, followed by another distant crash as rain poured over them; thunder and lightning. They hoped the storms weren’t too violent on this planet. There were some planets where the gasses released during thunderstorms were highly toxic, and all their safety gear was in their ship. 

Also, the rain itself could be toxic, or highly acidic; or very base. They had no idea. Well, their skin wasn’t burning, so it wasn’t highly anything -potentially just water. 

They tried to pull themselves out of the rain, looking frantically for shelter but the pain in their leg was too much. They shifted themselves to look at the damage. 

The metal boot they had worn - meant for flight combat;to be light and comfortable, not durable- had shattered on their left leg. Thankfully, the bone hadn’t broken through the skin but there was another large wound down the edge of their leg from which blood was flowing out into the ground. They panicked for a moment, thinking maybe they had nicked an artery but then they reminded themselves that if they had, the blood would be spurting, not flowing. 

Training took over, and they started to prioritize. They needed to tend to this wound. They didn’t need to worry about anything else right now; if they didn’t do something about this leg, they’d be helpless. They looked around, and started dragging themselves to the closest tree as they forced their breathing to slow - while they weren’t suffocating there was something wrong with the air and they’d have reduce their breathing until they started to adapt. 

Get to the tree. The tree would provide some shelter. They might be able to find some sticks to use to create a makeshift splint.

It felt like it took ages, but they finally managed to get to the base of the tree, leaving a smear of blue blood on the ground behind them. They pulled themselves into a little corner formed by the very large roots of the tree, and pulled their good leg up to their chest as they looked around. They needed sticks for a splint - they could tear strips from the bottom of their uniform for bandages- and then they could wait out the rain and see if they could find the remains of their ship. Once they got to their ship, they could radio for pickup. Their first aid kit, their rations, and their water purification system was also on the ship, and they needed all of it. They only hoped that those things hadn’t been too damaged in the crash. 

They felt something on their neck. They reached up and pulled away a tiny black worm like creature with a hard black shell and far too many legs. With a sudden yelp they threw it away from themselves as the image of that thing crawling into their ears suddenly implanted deep in their head. 

Did this planet have insects that would burrow into their body and devour them from the inside? Did they have awful parasites that would burrow into their brain and turn them into mindless beasts? Was this planet infected with corpus worms? They’d have to be disinfected and decontaminated when they got back home. It would be an unpleasant process, but- 

Their thoughts were interrupted by a sound- a low growl that they nearly missed as it came just on the heels of another roll of thunder. They looked around, focusing their eyes as they peered through the and rain into the darkness. Normally the darkness wouldn’t cause a problem for them, but something was wrong with their vision - they had trouble focusing, and their peripheral vision was fading.

Of course. Oxygen poisoning. The air on this planet was too oxygen dense for them. There was a chance they’d adapt to it before it did too much damage to their body, but hopefully they didn’t end up on this planet long enough for that to be a real worry.

Something moved in front them, obscured by foliage. They pressed themselves against the tree behind them and strained their eyes as finally they saw something- something canine in appearance, and easily twice the size of the hordak. It had ragged fur sticking up all over, and four narrowed eyes that reflected green in the lightning that flashed overhead. it slowly padded it’s way towards the injured clone, sniffing, salivating over the scent of blood. 

“I am Hord-... I am a hordak of the Horde.” They said in slow universal common - sometimes, planets had strange dialects and it was best to speak slowly, “Give me the planetary-“ they trailed off. The creature wasn’t slowing, and though their ears perked as they spoke it was clear they didn’t understand; their words were just noise to them. 

<<Not sentient.>> they muttered as they pushed themselves against the tree. Normally they would have been able to deal with this. Normally they'd have fled, but they couldn’t run. Normally they’d paralyze this thing with their multigun, but they didn’t have it. 

Their ears flicked down and back in fear. They took a deep breath and as they ignored the pain in their lungs they gave a loud, high pitched screech - not a sonic screech, that would be suicide right now - but one that would hopefully scare off the beast. 

It’s own ears flicked in irritation at the sound, and they backed up in pain but the moment the screech stopped the beast lunged. The hordak put their hands before them, claws out as they caught the beast in the chest with one hand, and on the muzzle with the other. It’s large fangs- very large fangs, covered in saliva - bit into the side of their hand. 

Infection was a concern now. They had no idea what kind of bacteria this thing had in its mouth. 

The beast, despite the hordak’s claws in their flesh, didn’t back off. It struggled to get closer to them , to rip them apart with their clearly carnivorous teeth. The hordak gave another screech, but the beast was clearly too hungry, too enraged by the scent of their blood to back off, and it was all the hordak could do to keep them from ripping it’s teeth through their neck. 

With a yelp of pain, they managed to reposition themselves and lifted their good leg to start kicking the monster in the chest over and over and over. Something snapped - perhaps a rib - and the beast gave a yelp before backing up, it’s open jaw moving away from their face. The hordak pushed themself forward, grabbed the best by it’s fur, and started slicing at it with their sharp claws. 

In truth... they had never killed with their claws before. They had trained, of course, but they had never before felt blood running through their fingers like this, never heard the sound of flesh ripping beneath them. Some of the clones preferred to use their claws, but the hordak had always preferred to use a multi-gun. 

The hordak gave a mixed scream of pain, frustration, and fear as they struggled, as the beast tried to shake them off. They drew their claws across it’s throat, and ripped open the flesh. 

A gurgling growl, and the monster fell limp onto the ground, it’s legs twitching as it’s blood - red blood by the looks of it but it was hard to tell in the rain and with their vision going so funny- ran onto the ground as they died. 

Shaking all over, the hordak pulled themself back to the tree. Their vision blurred with tears and from the oxygen poisoning as they fumbled around on the ground until they found a stick that was more or less the right size to create a splint. They slowly ripped off strips from the bottom of their uniform and bound their wound as tightly as they could. When that was done, they tore more strips and used the stick to splint their broken leg. 

That was all they could do for the time. 

Slowly and painfully, they used their hands and their one good foot to pull themselves up into the branches of the tree. This was clearly a hostile planet and sleeping on the ground wouldn’t be the best of ideas. They needed to sleep to help themselves heal, and they needed to wait out the rain. 

As they pulled themselves up into the tree they encountered one small bit of good luck - the straps that were supposed to have kept them safely in their pod had gotten caught up in some branches next to an odd, cancerous looking mound that was wrapped around a branch. The hordak managed to make their way to the mound, took the strap, and carefully strapped themselves into the branches so they wouldn’t fall out as they slept. 

They wrapped their arms around themselves. This planet was also far colder than the hordak was used to and they found themselves starting to shiver. They were cold, wet, shaken, injured, and honestly, they were very scared. 

They wondered if DH was ok. They wondered if DH was looking for them. 

To their shame, they felt their tears quicken. Their breathing came out in rasping, choked sobs as they pulled their leg to their chest and held their knees to themselves. They glanced up, thinking maybe they’d feel better if they could see the stars overhead but of course through the canopy they couldn’t. Even if there was no canopy above them, it was raining. No stars tonight. Of course no stars tonight, not when they needed to see something that would make them feel less alone and less scared. 

Exhausted, they cried themselves to sleep, cold and alone in a tree in what they would find out much later was called the Whispering Woods. 

=========

  
  


The hordak was woken up by the feeling of something crawling over their skin. They opened their eyes suddenly, their body stiff with horror as they saw these strange, rather large insects crawling all over them. They were roughly the size of their thumb, colored yellow with black stripes. They possessed an elongated abdomen and long, clear wings. 

The hordak nearly screamed, but they had the feeling that these insects had stingers, and if they made a sudden movement or noise they would be attacked. 

Did these creatures have toxins? No idea. They glanced around, and realized that the strange growth that their straps had been caught on was apparently some kind of nest- papery and uneven. 

Wait. They just had to wait. Judging by the light it was still early morning for this planet, and perhaps if they were still and quiet and they managed to keep their poor, thrumming heart from exploding in their chest then these insects might fly away and give the hordak a chance to escape. 

Something was on their neck, crawling to their ear. They heard something hum, buzzing as they approached. The sound caused a shudder of fear and revulsion to overtake their body as their ears flicked down in fear. The sudden movement startled the insect, and it suddenly plunged it’s stinger into the hordak’s skin. They yelped, and the other insects took off, swarming around them. 

The hordak sliced away the straps as they were stung. Using their strong claws they managed to grab onto the trunk of the tree, sliding down before they fell to the ground, landing on their back. They managed to lift their injured leg to keep it from hitting the ground as the air was knocked from their lungs. The insects followed them, swarming, stinging at exposed flesh. They covered their face with their arms to protect themselves as much as they could. They flexed their leg; it was still sore, but they had apparently slept deeply and the break was at least partially healed. They pulled themselves up to their knees, ripped off the splint, and ran. 

Their leg still hurt, and they weren’t managing to outrun the bugs because of that and because of the twisted roots that covered the ground before them. They tripped twice, collecting bruises and new cuts, as well as more stings before they saw some source of water glittering in the faint light that trickled through the canopy.

In the time it took them to get to the water source they had already calculated the chances that the water was toxic or too acidic, decided that they would take those chances just as they jumped into the water. They couldn’t see well, the water was murky and their vision, though improved from the night before, was still not perfect. They swam down, touching the bottom of what the hordak assumed was a lake by the size of it, and swam straight ahead hoping to throw off the insects. Eventually the water became shallow and their legs scraped against the bottom. They tentatively rose up and broke through the surface of the water. 

No swarming, stinging insects. They listened carefully and couldn’t hear any buzzing. 

Safe. Relatively. For the moment. 

They pulled themselves out of the water, favouring their bad leg. When they got onto the riverbed they collapsed against the grass. 

Alright. Good news: The rain had stopped; they could run on their leg; the oxygen wasn’t going to kill. 

They sat up to examine their stings, hoping that they wouldn’t have a very bad reaction to them. As they looked over their limbs though, it wasn’t the many blue, raised lumps all over themselves that they noticed, it was the dozen or so long, black, slug-like creatures stuck to their skin that caught their attention. They shuddered in revulsion, but at least these creatures were too big to be corpus worms, and too slow to get into their ears. They seemed to be attached to their skin with strange, round mouths on the end of a ribbed tube. With a rolling stomach, they reached out, took the biggest one, and pulled it off. 

The creature was ripped from their leg, but something was stuck in their skin. They couldn’t see it properly because as soon as they pulled off the creature the blood started to pour from the wound that was left. They realized that what was now stuck in their skin had to be the creatures teeth, or some similar latching mechanism.

They turned to the side and started to dry heave, eventually vomiting up nothing but bile and saliva. They continued to dry heave for a few more minutes before they managed to calm themselves. They turned back to the remaining creatures. 

They had to get them off. 

They reached forward, and using their claws they very carefully dragged their claws against the edge of the creature’s mouths, and managed to pry them off one by one leaving behind profusely bleeding circular wounds. They realized quickly that they couldn’t feel the creatures latched onto them -probably due to some kind of numbing agent- so they had to feel around themselves, making sure there were no more on their body. They found one on the back of their neck, but thankfully most of them were easy to reach. 

Once they were finally clear of the disgusting insects they stood up and looked around. Covered in blood and stings, they started looking for signs of a crash through the trees. 

The sooner they found their ship, the sooner they could call for help. If they were lucky, they’d be off this awful planet before noon.


	69. Done

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you’re all still staying safe! 
> 
> It feels a little like spring where I am ( even though we’re going to get some snow later the week). So if you get temperatures warm enough you should throw open your windows and get some fresh air!

That first night and the next morning normally put Hordak on edge. He tried most of the time not to think about it - his breathing also started to go funny when he thought about the whispering woods.

Panic attacks he knew now. Even though clones weren’t suppose to-

Oh. Right. He wasn’t a clone.

He looked at his introduction to Etheria and how he reacted, how he responded to it all, not from the point of view of him being a clone, or even a soldier of Horde Prime. He tried to look at it from the point of view of just a person- any person.

If Entrapta had an experience like that? Honestly if she broke down into tears at the very mention of the Whispering Woods after that he’d not blame her in the least.

Maybe…. Maybe he was doing alright, all things considered.

Entrapta held him tightly, her hair wrapped around his wings as she played with his hair.

“No wonder you hate the whispering woods.” She muttered, gently bringing her hand around to gently rub his ear. Entrapta’s affection had kept him well grounded while he was telling her about his first night, and he even felt himself start to chirp as her hand went to his ear.

“Someone must have helped you eventually.” She said after a while, “You did build an army, and I know for a fact that a lot of people simply decided to work with you.”

“Oh yes.” Hordak said, “The Scorpion tribe eventually came into contact with me. They liked the weapons and were willing to trade for what I could make. Though, meeting them was mostly a fluke.

==============

Three days on this wretched planet because of course their communicator had been destroyed. Thankfully their first aid kit had survived mostly intact, but they had lost half their rations in the crash. The ship itself was also destroyed beyond what the hordak could fix with the limited tools at their disposal.

And that's why they were still there. They could not fix their ship, but certain parts of it, the speakers for some reason, their personal files, the location tracker, and the primary power source were all still functioning. If they stayed near the ship and kept it functional then when the battle was over and they scanned for recovery the horde would realize that they were stranded. When they realized that a soldier had crashed on a nearby planet, they’d send for a pickup.

Hordak or no, a soldier was a soldier. A warm body on the field. Leaving them here to die would be wasteful, or so the hordak told themself. Though, some nights when they were trying to sleep in the ruins of their little ship they found themself calculating the cost of fuel and wondering if even a recovery ship would be sent to pick them up.

What was a hordak worth?

When three days had come and gone, the hordak realized that they weren’t getting a pickup. Clearly, a hordak was not worth the fuel.

They tore the working parts from the ship, and took as much scrap as they could travel with. If they’d be stuck here to do their own repairs and call for help they’d at least get out of these awful woods.

They picked a direction, and started walking. It was slow going since they were taking their time, and hiding whenever something seemed to come sniffing out of the shadows. There were giant insects that crept around in the dark, but to be honest they didn’t bother the hordak as much as the smaller ones. The ones that could crawl over you without being noticed. The kind that could easily crawl into ears, or implant themselves into skin. The woods seemed to crawl with such things, and the hordak found themself obsessively feeling around their ears, certain they had felt something crawling around on their skin.

However, by late afternoon the trees were starting to thin, and the strange noises that seemed to lurk about the forest were starting to fade off. The hordak was feeling a lot better now that they were mostly out of the woods. They’d set up a fright zone once they found a decent water source, and then they’d get to work on fixing the communicator. They’d radio for help, and if that didn’t work they’d send out a general distress signal. They’d prove that they weren’t a drain on the horde forces.

Thinking about this, they had almost missed the sound - a high pitched squeal of something being pulled to it’s limit.

Bowstring.

The hordak’s ears flicked, and they heard breathing. They turned and peered into the darkness.

Humanoids.

They were definitely humanoid, though they had mud on their face and strange costumes on. They had horns sticking up from their heads, but they couldn’t tell if that was something that grew on them, or a costume.

It didn’t matter in the end. People. They had found people. The hordak held their empty hands out before them with their palms out.

“I am a hordak of the Horde.” They said slowly and clearly. Sure, the very large canine beast wasn’t sentient, and they were starting to doubt that there was a sentient race on this planet, but humanoids were generally sentient, and they had bows so they were at least intelligent enough to make weapons. “Give me your planetary designation.”

They didn’t respond, but the hordak could hear them whispering among themselves. They tried to make out what they were saying but the language was... Strange. They could make out hints of what might have been some dialect of Universal Common, but it was wrong. It sounded the same without the hordak being able to recognize more than half the words spoken, with a strange cadence that confused them.

They’d try again. Dumb down the language. They took a step forward and said in the clearest voice they could, “What. Planet. Is. This.”

It happened quickly. They heard the twang of the bowstring, and an arrow rushed out at them. Their reflexes took over and they managed to snatch the arrow in mid-air, holding it for just a second before letting it drop to the ground as their ears drooped.

The attack proved several things at once to the lost hordak.

First, these people were hostile and by the look of the jagged point of the arrow that had been shot at them, they were willing to kill.

Second, these people didn’t speak Universal Common.

Third, these people didn’t know the horde. The hordak’s uniform was torn and tattered, but the insignia on the chest was still clear and very visible. If these people had any clue about the horde, then they’d never attack someone wearing the horde insignia. They’d never risk the wrath of Horde Prime.

Just wonderful. The hordak thought, I must be on either a protected planet, an undiscovered planet, or an uncolonized planet.

The humanoids shouted something, and people started coming out of the darkness with blades drawn. The sound of bow strings being pulled hit the hordak’s ears. They were going to attack en masse.

The hordak had no doubt that they could defend themself against such primitive forces, they could evade attacks and cut down the enemy without much worry. They were outnumbered, and they might have taken some slight damage; they might get an infection from a wound; one of the arrows might be poisoned.

Or the creatures could just end up being really lucky. Certainly the hordak’s luck hadn’t been great.

They made their decision. The hordak grasped their pack filled with the supplies they had managed to carry, and ran. They were faster than their attackers, and far more agile- climbing up trees and leaping further and further away from them. They could still hear their shouts as the enemy gave chase, and while most of the words were ones that the hordak didn’t know, there was one that they did.

‘Monster’

As for the other words… Well, it didn’t sound like they were telling them that they just wanted to talk.

=========

Thirty-four days.

They had been trying to fix this damned communicator for thirty-four days, and because they didn’t have the raw materials they needed to replace some damaged parts, they couldn’t do it.

If the populace of the planet weren’t so hostile, they could have traded with them for the materials. They could least have been around them long enough to learn the language properly and ask where the materials were. They’d retrieve them themself if they had to

But no. Each group that the hordak encountered treated them the same. They attacked. They seemed afraid of them, and they could only guess that it was because they had never seen a clone before. They had never seen anything quite like the hordak, and they were afraid of them. Still, the hordak never attacked back. It was easier and kinder to just avoid them.

Still, they had never been alone for this long before in their life. They had never gone this long without a real conversation with anyone. They had never gone this long without seeing the stars.

At least they had music. The ship was destroyed, the communicator was broken, but the speaker and their music had survived. The hordak was certain that listening to the musicals they had saved on the ship’s old drive was all that was keeping them sane on the surface of this awful planet.

It’s not surprising then that they finally ended up attacking the population.

They had stepped away from their supplies for a moment, just to get some fresh water from the nearby spring that they had found, and while they were gone they had heard it - the sound of the residents of this planet, yelling. This was Something they could ignore normally- they did ignore it, there seemed to be some kind of local dispute between different groups on the planet- but this time they sounded far too close to the fright zone for the hordak’s comfort. They abandoned their drink, and ran back as fast as they could to the little valley in which they had hidden. They stood on the ledge above where they had camped to see what looked like two groups of humanoids in combat. One must have chased the other into the valley, hoping for an easy chokepoint. The hordak watched as a Centaur like race fought against a race of humanoid scorpion people.

Well, not their battle, Not their planet, not their people. It wouldn’t be a good idea to get involved. But they were too close to their supplies. They looked down off the top of the ledge to see if they could find a way to get to their things and sneak away without the humanoids noticing….

And that’s when they saw the real damage- their speaker, the only thing that seemed to be keeping them sane, the last connection to the rest of the universe, the source of their music was reduced to a pile of sparking scrap under a relatively large rock.

Their music was gone.

It all piled up on them. Their music was gone. They were lost on this planet. They couldn’t repair their ship. They couldn’t fix their communicator. Nobody was looking for them. Nobody was going to save them.

Nobody cared.

The screech that the hordak gave silenced the battle below. They two groups hadn’t even noticed that the hordak was there until that point and they froze, looking up at the towering red-eyed monster who was glaring down at them with rage.

They jumped down from the ledge and landed easily on their feet in the middle of the battle.

Both groups looked at the hordak, their weapons raised even as they seemed like they were trying to decide if they should attack or flee.

The hordak pointed to the sparking mess under the rock.

“WHO. DID. THAT.” They roared.

They didn’t understand of course, but the scorpion people clearly got the gist of the question, and pointed to a large centaur who was holding another rock in their hands.

The Hordak turned, and gave a loud screech before lunging at them.

This damned planet was taking every damn thing from the hordak. They had been separated from their people, their ship was destroyed, the communicator was destroyed, their eyesight was going funny, they were already down to eating only a quarter ration a day and they were hungry! They were in pain!

Looking back, the slow withdrawal from the Perma Frost definitely made their rage harder to control, but that wouldn’t be something they’d know for a long long time. No. Now their music was gone- the last thing they had that they could enjoy on this planet was gone because of some stupid fight between the ignorant masses of this mudball of a planet!

The sight of an angry, screeching clone lunging at them with their claws out caused the centaurs to retreat. The one with the rock who was bigger and seemingly braver than the others went to face the hordak with their sword in one hand, and the rock in another. The sword was snapped in half, the claws ripped into their sword hand, tearing through muscle and ligaments. The creature fell to the ground, dropping the rock which the hordak grabbed, lifted up and dropped down on its head.

Canine beasts, horrid insects, the cold, the rain, the damned empty skies, They were so sick of it! So angry! So tired!

Done. There was one word that they could use to describe how they felt in this moment and that was it - done-

About half of scorpion people roared and gave chase. There wasn’t much of a battle left, now that the centaurs were fleeing and their will had been shattered by the hordak.

The hordak turned to the remaining scorpion people, one of which - the hordak guessed it was their immediate leader if they were to judge by the elaborate neckpiece they were wearing- backed up and held their hands up before them.

Empty palms. Was this a gesture of peace, or just a fluke. Carefully stalking around them, the hordak lifted their own palms. The scorpion people lowered their weapons as the leader said something that the hordak couldn’t make out.

The hordak retracted their claws.

The leader said something, and the hordak could almost understand it. Almost. It was a question, the leaders claw pointing out towards them. An interrogative word, but what was it? Who? What? They could understand the general meaning, if not the specifics behind the question.

They pointed to themself, and said, “Hordak.”

The leader nodded and responded, “Hordak.” They turned to their troops, lifted a claw and started chanting, “Hor-DAK! Hor-DAK!”

The hordak wasn’t certain what just happened, but judging by how the other troops started chanting with the leader, they guessed that they probably weren’t going to be attacked by the scorpion people. At least not yet.

===========

“I thought that Scorpia’s people only surrendered to you relatively recently.” Entrapta said as she gently stroked Hordak’s hair.

“They did.” He said, “I worked with them for years. It wasn’t until I was forming an empire of my own that they started working under me and presented me with the black garnet.” Hordak nuzzled into the top of Entrapta’s hair, struggling to tighten his wings around her. “When The Horde got bigger than their kingdom, they pledged loyalty to me.”

Entrapta was very quiet. Hordak could tell she wasn’t asleep by her breathing, but she was far quieter than he expected her to be.

“... I did kill that centaur.” Hordak said, holding onto her tightly, “I… You do know I have killed since I’ve been here. More than once. I’ve-“

Her hair puffed up to silence him, “I know.” She said.

“... does that bother you?”

“I knew it before.” She said, “I..have trouble blaming you for self defense. Especially after multiple attacks.” She tightened her hair around him. “It’s only logical. I can’t blame you for acting logically. I’m surprised you avoided it for so long.”

“And you’re upset though..”

“Of course I am.” She said as she clutched to him, “I can’t imagine how you must have felt here. And…” She looked up at him. Why were her eyes brimming with tears, “And…You didn’t make any friends here before imp and then me?

Hordak shook his head, “Me and the scorpion king had a mutual respect, but it wasn’t friendship. I wasn’t much interested in making friends - I wanted to get off this planet.” He frowned as he looked down at Entrapta, surprised that he was coping with this better than she was.

It was probably because she was holding him so tightly

“I… I didn’t tell you to make you feel bad. You wanted to know, so…”

Entrapta shushed him again, this time by shifting herself up and kissing him on the lips as her hands twined in his hair. Before long he had fallen back to his low, contented chirping

“I’m going to get you your stars back.” He half heard Entrapta whisper to him as he was starting to drift off, “And I won’t let you be alone again.”

He was asleep before he could respond


	70. The Crimson Wastes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good morning, and Happy Wednesday!
> 
> Hope you’re all staying inside and staying safe. 
> 
> The last scene in this chapter I actually wrote well before I started this fic. In fact, a lot of scenes appeared in my head before there was a story to link them together. This one I liked a lot, and I’m excited to present it to you all today!
> 
> please enjoy!

The hot air seemed to embrace Hordak as he stepped out of the carrier. He desperately wanted to take off his boots and let his long, delicate toes run through the sand that was hot enough to hurt the more delicate Etherian skin of his companions. He took a deep breath and while he knew that the air was still a little oxygen rich for him, it was hot air that didn’t hurt his lungs at all. 

The Crimson Wastes. There was nothing out here worth conquering, no resources that were particularly valuable, and it wasn’t comfortably habitable to most Etherians. Hordak had ignored the wastes all these years and while he had sent out some exploratory expeditions in the early days he had never come here himself. 

What a waste. The Crimson Wastes were lovely even if the sun seemed to shine a little too bright for his eyes. 

His opinion on the Crimson Wastes clearly were not widely shared. He heard Perfuma give a loud groan as she stepped out of the carrier behind him, “Why did I have to come?” She whined. 

Perfuma had dressed as lightly as she could in a foolish attempt to stay cool; a strappy tank top, no hat, arms exposed, back exposed. Hordak knew enough about Etherians to know that she’d be badly sunburned before they were done today. 

If Adora couldn’t or wouldn’t heal her with the sword, then he’d have Mel figure out something. It was the least he could do - the grounding techniques were proving to be highly effective, especially when Entrapta was nearby. 

“The wastes aren’t that bad!” Scorpia said as she stepped out of the transport. She stretched in the sun, “I mean, sure it looks desolate, and it's dangerous, and it’s really hot, but it’s not that bad. The people here are nice.” 

“Nice might be stretching it.” Adora said as she and Bow climbed out of the transport. 

“Right.” Hordak said without looking at Scorpia. He had his face turned to the sky and was enjoying the heat of the sun, “You and Catra came back with a small group of people, didn’t you.” 

Silence. Hordak cursed himself silently as he pulled himself away from the sun. Clearly, Catra was still a sore point for Scorpia. “Still,” He said, trying to draw attention away from whatever she was thinking about, “I had always been under the impression that the Crimson Wastes were deserted.” 

“That’s what we thought.” Bow said, “But... There’s a whole city here. Lots of people who ran away from the hor-.. Uh.. From.. You know, their past lives.” 

“Surprisingly,” Hordak said dryly, “I didn’t often worry about desertion. It wasn’t a big enough problem.” He glanced at Adora, “In fact, I told Shadow Weaver several times to stop going after you after you left.” 

“The desertion rate in the Horde is only about 5%.” Entrapta said as she stepped out of the transport. She was wearing a vest over her coveralls which she had put together as soon as she realized she’d be going to the Crimson wastes; it cooled her body to keep her comfortable even in the heat. “Most people who leave - from my data- leave to escape punishment for serious infractions, to pursue further personal wealth, or simply find that they’re not suited for the structure of the Horde.”

“They weren’t bred and raised for service.” Hordak said simply, “I’m hardly going to chase after them if they leave. I had better things to do” 

“If they ran away, and could go anywhere, then why did they come here of all places!” Perfuma said, clenching her fists at her side, “There’s nothing here but sand and heat and rocks and … And….And.”

“Sun?” Hordak offered. 

“Burning!” 

“There’s plants here too.” Adora said, “Cacti. That’s why you’re here - You can use that to help us, right?”

Perfuma looked away, but muttered something that sounded like agreement under her breath. 

“Right!” Adora said, “First things first, we find Huntara. She knows the Crimson Wastes better than anyone and can lead us back to Mara’s ship.”

“She’ll be ok to help us, right?” Bow asked, “I mean, She left the Horde, didn’t she?” He glanced at Hordak, “She’s not going to... have an issue working with Hordak, will she?” 

“Uh...I hope not?” Adora said with a laugh, “I mean… I hope she won’t. Once we explain everything…” She glanced up at Hordak, “Hey, maybe if you keep the hood up she won’t even recognize you!” 

“The red eyes and mouth might give him away.” Perfuma grumbled, “Why are you even wearing a cloak anyway? If you want to be covered up, you have wings now. I’d think that people would be less likely to recognize you if you had your wings out.”

Hordak was about to explain, but Entrapta spoke up behind him, not looking up as she searched for signals with her data pad “Hordak has minimal control over his wings. If he gets excited they tend to puff out and the last thing we want is for him to cuff someone with his wings, or go around breaking things. Also, they tend to throw him off balance.” She shrugged, “So we bound them down on his back.” 

Hordak sighed as he felt his ears flick down. Yes, he had no control over his wings. Yes, if he wasn’t careful and his wings puffed out while he was walking and he’d lose his balance and fall backwards in an undignified heap. 

But still, Entrapta didn’t have to tell everyone! 

At least the straps were working. Entrapta used his old strappy armor to create a makeshift harness Which held his wings down. It looked odd to him, so he kept a cloak on to hide the wings. It was the same cloak that Morgana had provided him with when Catra and the original Horde Ambassador had come to Bright Moon. She had added a hood to it, and finished it up while Hordak had been recovering so it looked more polished. It now buttoned up in the front with silver buttons, leaving room for his pendant to hang out over the fabric. 

“Ok.” Adora said as she clapped her hands, “Let’s go! We’re going to go to the bar - that’s where Huntara normally hangs out. If she’s not there, we can be pointed in her general direction.” 

A bar. With lots of people around to gawk at him. Great. Hordak found himself pulling the hood up over his head even though he wanted to enjoy the feel of the sun on his face. Maybe he would be lucky and nobody would recognize him right away. Maybe it would be so crowded that they’d not even notice him. 

==============

The bar fell silent as they entered. At first Hordak hoped that it was just because new people were entering the bar, but his sensitive ears were able to pick up someone whispering, “Oh... Oh shit, is that Hordak?”

Great. Recognized. Well, it’s not like he wasn’t expecting this. Oh well, Time to be ‘on’ 

He took a deep breath, and pulled the hood down as though it irritated him to have it up. He glared around the room, not really looking at anyone, just looking over everyone. 

There were a lot of people here; more than he expected. If they had been able to read his ears they’d have seen the subtle twitchiness of nerves at the tips, but as they couldn’t all they saw was his angry, narrowed eyes and his forced scowl.

“I should get out of here.” Someone whispered from the far corner, “I ran from the horde years ago-“

“He’s not the leader of the Horde anymore.” Someone else whispered back, “Remember? I told you. I ran off just as this Horde Prime guy took over. Hordak got his ass handed to him.” 

Joy. Apparently rumor had reached the Crimson Wastes. Still, nobody seemed like they were making a move to attack so already this was going a little better than Hordak had expected.

“I need something cold to drink.” Perfuma gasped as she walked past Hordak and headed to the bar. Entrapta followed, and not wanting to stay standing there on display Hordak followed her. 

“I’m going to go find Huntara.” Adora said, “Bow, you’ll come with me? And Scorpia? Just in case?” 

“Yeah.” Bow said. He glanced up at Hordak, but before he could ask the question Hordak gave a curt nod, “I will be fine with Entrapta and Princess Perfuma.” He said. 

Adora, Bow, and Scorpia wandered into the crowd as Hordak went to the bar, ignoring the whispers around him. 

“Wait, that’s Princess Perfuma.” Someone whispered, “What’s she doing with Hordak?”

“Oh, that’s the best part.” The one who had recently fled the fright zone whispered back, “Apparently, he and Princess Entrapta are a thing. It wasn’t a very well kept secret, but Horde Prime wasn’t happy. Had a crystal that said - yeah, look! If you look carefully, you can see he’s wearing this pink crystal. Apparently it says ‘loved’. Anyway, I guess when Prime got rid of him, he decided to work with the princesses. Any port in a storm, right?

“Hordak, you want anything?” Entrapta said as she sat down at the bar. Hordak took a seat next to her, thankfully leaving an empty spot between him and the next person sitting at the bar. 

“Just water.” He said. He doubted that this bar had anything he’d actually like and he wasn’t interested in getting drunk in the Crimson Wastes. The words were scarcely out of his mouth when the terrified bartender set a dirty glass of water in front of him. Hordak grunted his thanks, and picked up the drink. 

“So I guess the ‘great’ lord Hordak is working with the pretty little princesses.” The guy sitting next to him said. He was a larger guy, taller than most, bulkier than most, with lots of scars on his face and arms. He had a thick dark beard and bald head. 

Perfuma looked up at the bartender, “Do you have any fresh squeezed fruit juice?” She asked. The look that the bartender gave her made Hordak very grateful that he hadn’t asked for the same thing. 

“Or anything Fizzy?” Entrapta asked as her hair twisted around her.

The bartender frowned, and put glasses in front of Entrapta and Perfuma. Hordak didn’t know what it was, but Entrapta’s did seem fizzy at least, and the drink in front of Perfuma gave off an almost sickly sweet smell. By the look on Perfuma’s face as she took a sip, it was clearly far too sweet. 

“Keep your voice down.” Said a smaller man who was sitting next to the one that Hordak had dubbed as ‘The Beard, “he’s literally right there, he could hear you.” 

“Haven’t you heard.” The Beard said a little louder- loud enough to be easily heard at least, “Besides, what’s he going to do? Put me in his prisons? Send me to beast island?” He chuckled to himself. “Lord Hordak is a pet of the Princesses now. He’d probably have to ask permission to do anything.”

Hordak wanted to know what rumors were going around the wastes, but he wasn’t curious enough to ask. He felt Entrapta’s hair wrap around his wrist. She looked up and gave him a little smile. He nodded at her. This didn’t bother him; it was useful at least to know how other people saw what was happening. 

“Really?” The smaller guy asked, “I mean.. Hordak, working with the princesses?” 

“Not like he had much choice,” The Beard said, “Lost everything when Lord Prime showed up. How the mighty have fallen- he was once the big scary lord of the Fright Zone, And now he’s out here in the Crimson Wastes like the rest of us, stuck with the Flower Child and the weird one.”

Entrapta’s hair tightened around Hordak’s wrist before her hair went slightly limp. She looked down at her drink, then looked up at the bartender giving him a smile that was a little wider than normal - one that didn’t reach her eyes, ‘Uh. Where’s your bathroom?” She asked, 

“Outside.” The bartender said. “Around the back.” 

Entrapta got up without saying anything else. She gave Hordak a quick smile, but again it didn’t hit her eyes. 

“I’ll be right back.” She said. 

“Very well.” Hordak said. He turned to Perfuma but before he could gesture to her that she should follow Entrapta he saw that she was already up and following her. 

Good. 

He sat at the bar, sipping his water as he listened to Entrapta and Perfuma make their way across the bar. 

“Aww, I think I hurt her feelings.” The Beard said with a snicker. 

Entrapta and Perfuma got to the door. Hordak heard it open and close as they left the bar. 

If someone who had been watching Hordak had blinked in that moment, they’d have missed it. Hordak was on his feet, his arm shot out and he grabbed The Beard by the neck, his strong fingers squeezing just enough to make him uncomfortable. Hordak lifted The Beard up and off his feet as he rose to his full height. He heard several people leave the bar at once, but he ignored that. 

“You know,” He said in a deadpan tone of voice “You’re right.” He was quiet, yet the bar had gone silent, so everyone could hear him. He thought that he heard Scorpia say something from across the bar, but he didn’t care about that at that moment. “I have lost everything. I’ve lost my throne and my army. I lost my lab. I lost all my studies, all my technology, my position, my reputation, and my former allies.”

He lifted The Beard up a little higher, and squeezed a little harder. He let his claws come out just slightly to pierce the skin, “I have lost everything for Princess Entrapta, and I have done so happily.” He glared up at The Beard, his red eyes narrowed, and his ears pinned back. 

“Now.” He said as though he were laying out a simple, logical train of thought, “If that’s everything I’m willing to lose for Princess Entrapta, I want you to imagine just what I’d be willing to do for her.” 

He squeezed harder. The Beard gave a strangled croak as blood started to trickle down his neck. 

Hordak heard the door open again. He dropped The Beard in a heap on the floor and quickly and took his seat again, sipping his water casually as Entrapta and Perfuma came back in, followed by Bow. Hordak guessed that as soon as Hordak had grabbed The Beard, Bow must have gone out with the few who had fled to get Entrapta. Entrapta didn’t say a word as she came back up to the bar and took her seat again. Perfuma sat next to her, watching Hordak carefully, her eyes flicking from Hordak to the blood on The Beard’s neck. 

“Everything good?” Perfuma asked 

“Perfect.” Hordak replied. 

The Beard climbed up back to the bar, gasping and coughing, rubbing blood away from his neck. He sat down heavily on his chair, leaned forward, and took a long drink of his beer. He looked past Hordak and to Entrapta. 

“Eh…. Excuse me… Princess Entrapta?” 

Entrapta looked over to him, and Hordak could see that her eyes were a little red. “Yes?” She said, giving him that same fake smile. 

“I, Uh. I apologize. It occured to me that I might have been a little rude. Thoughtless. My apologies.” 

Entrapta beamed, “It’s ok! No problem! Didn’t even notice!” 

The low chatter started up around the bar again. Hordak listened carefully, but the conversation wasn’t anything he had to worry about now, and while people were still talking about him, the tone had turned either respectful or frightened. He might not be Lord of the Fright Zone anymore, but he was still Hordak. More than that he was a restored Hordak - strong, fast, and deadly; the sooner any potential enemies realized that, the better. 

Nobody said anything about Entrapta. 


	71. Flirt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Good Morning! ( well, it’s morning my time!) 
> 
> Well... looks like we might have a couple more MONTHS Of this, so there’s a chance that this might get finished before I have to go back to work. >.>
> 
> Some people have asked if I’m going to continue past S5. Yes. Yes I am. S4 didn’t stop this, so neither will S5. 
> 
> Stay inside, safe safe.

Hordak felt like it was a long time later when Bow finally came up to the bar to get them. 

“Adora found Huntara.” He said, “But she wants to talk to us in a private room before we leave.” 

“If we must.” Hordak growled as he finished his water, setting the empty glass roughly on the table.

“Uh…” Bow glanced at the chair where The Beard had been sitting not too long ago. He and his friend had left shortly after The Beard gave his heartfelt apologies to Entrapta, “You… You ok?” He asked Hordak. Hordak simply lifted a brow. 

“He’s been...Kinda angry and scary since we got in here.” Perfuma whispered. 

“Oh. Don’t worry about that.” Entrapta said quietly as she got up, “He used to do this all the time in the Fright Zone too. I call it his “Lord Hordak” face.” She made little quotation marks with her hands and hair as she grinned at him, “When he’s around people he’s not comfortable with, he does this.” She tilted her head, her hair twisting up around her, “Though… I saw it a lot more in the Fright Zone. Whenever we weren’t alone, he was like this. I’ve not seen it much since we got to BrightMoon.” She looked up at him, smiling, “I guess it’s a good thing!” 

Hordak grunted as he got up, “Why does this ‘Huntara’ want to speak to us privately anyway.” He muttered. 

“Well… She’s not decided to help us yet.” Bow said as he rubbed the back of his head. 

“Because I’m here?”

“NO! No, I mean, well, you know, she hasn’t met everyone, and she doesn’t necessarily want to bring people she doesn’t know though the wastes and she’d like to know who she’s working with and what they’re like and-“ 

Hordak nodded and looked down at Entrapta, “It’s because I’m here.” 

“Probably.” Entrapta said, “Let’s go meet her” 

Bow led them to the private room at the other end of the bar. 

“So, her helping us is dependent on her liking Hor- er, liking us?” Perfuma asked

Hordak felt his ears twitch with amusement, “No.” He said back quietly, “It depends on us convincing her that the risks of not working with me are greater than the risks of working with me.” He glanced down at Perfuma, “Just like I did with the rest of you.” 

Perfuma gave Hordak an almost scandalized look, “That’s not the only reason we’re working with you!” 

“Not now. It was at first.” 

Bow opened the door, and led them into the private room. It wasn’t much: A simple table with a handful of mis-matched chairs around it, a handful of candles clustered together in the center of the table, and a well beaten dirt floor. Adora and Scorpia were already sitting down, flanking a very large, purple skinned woman who was leaning back and drinking from a mug. When they entered there was a brief moment when the mug stopped in mid-air for just a second as she looked over Hordak, but then she continued as though nothing bothered her- as though the former lord of the Fright Zone hadn’t just walked into the room with Princess Entrapta’s hair around his wrist, and Princess Perfuma at his other side. 

“So.” She said after she took a long drink. “I suppose the rumors are true.” 

Hordak grunted, and closed the door. Rather than sit down, he leaned against the door with his hands on his hips, waiting. Perfuma and Bow sat down next to Adora. Entrapta went to sit next to Scorpia. 

“What.” Huntara said as she eyed him, “Too good to sit?” 

“Not at all.” Hordak said quietly. He listened carefully for a moment, his ears twitching. He suddenly turned around, grabbed the door handle, and opened the door causing the two people who had been leaning with their ears pressed against the door to fall inside in a heap. They yelped in pain as they fell then yelped again in fear as they looked up and saw Hordak glaring at them with his bright red eyes. 

“Can we help you?” He hissed. The response was not intelligible and they jumped up and ran back into the bar. Everyone else pretended that they hadn’t seen anything happen. Satisfied, Hordak closed the door, pulled the lock across, and took the last seat between Perfuma and Entrapta. 

“Can’t blame them for wanting to listen in.” Huntara said as she took another drink, “You’re the object of a lot of chatter these days in the Wastes.” 

“So I’ve gathered.” Hordak said. “I’m surprised that rumor got here quite so fast.” 

“Don’t be.” She said, “That Prime guy’s apparently a giant ass. Well, no, let me rephrase. That Prime guy doesn’t give a shit about his people, and put that Catra in charge.” She took another drink, “Apparently the power went right to her head. Lots of people ran off and came here after the first few days.” She glanced at Hordak, “Rumor about you ranged from you meeting your demise on Beast Island to Horde Prime just snapping your neck on the spot. The juiciest rumors say that you escaped from Horde Prime and defected. Went to Bright Moon to find Entrapta.” She glanced at the others around the table, “I guess the latter was true.”

“Not quite, but close enough.” Hordak said idly. He was watching Scorpia. At the mention of Catra, her face had fallen. She leaned in, looking at Huntara, “Hey… Have there been other rumors about Catra?”

Huntara hummed in response as she drank her beer, “Yeah.” She said when she was finished. She got second in command, she’s Lady of the Fright Zone now, working under Prime Directly… But apparently that position comes with a leash.” 

“A leash?” Perfuma asked, her eyes widening slightly. 

“Yeah. Some kind of backup, I don’t know what. The most reasonable thing I heard is that he put a collar on her.” 

“Collar?” Perfuma said, tilting her head, “Like jewelry?”

“No.” Hordak said, “A literal collar. It might look like jewelry, but It’s…” He hesitated, not wanting to say anything that would upset Scorpia- she had done too much for him. 

“Sir?” 

Hordak sighed, “I’m not sir.” He said, “It’s… When Horde Prime would give someone a collar, we’d say he had a new pet. His actual soldiers never for collars - it was deemed unnecessary but aside from that if it’s someone he’s going to work closely with, but not someone he trusts, they get collared.”

“Why?”

Hordak sighed, “It’s a shock collar.” He said. 

There was a moment of silence around the table as they took that in. 

“Catra would never wear something like that.” Scorpia said, but her voice was unsure, her eyes wide.

“Probably.” Hordak said, “But there’s the chance that Horde Prime didn’t tell her exactly what it was. He might have simply said that her accepting it was a symbol of her privilege, and her duty. Something like that.” He crossed his arms and leaned with his elbows on the table, “If she steps out of line, she’ll find out what it is.” 

“Probably did already.” Huntara said, “If that’s true, then at least one of the rumors I heard was real.” 

“What did you hear?” Scorpia asked. Huntara took her eyes off Hordak finally, and looked at Scorpia, eying her carefully. 

“Hey…” She said, her voice softening, “I’ve heard of you.” 

“Oh.. You have?” 

“Yeah. I heard you and a bunch of people caused some trouble for Dick Prime. Former Force Captain, Right?” 

“Y-Yeah. That’s right.” 

“Did you grow up in the Horde?” 

“Mostly?” Scorpia said, “I was sent to train when I was little.” 

“What bunk?” 

“North Bunk.” 

Huntara snapped her fingers, “Damn. I was East. Oh well.” She grinned at Scorpia, “Well, no surprise there. I’d have never forgotten if I had shared a bunk with a pretty little thing like you.” 

To Hordak’s amazement, Scorpia turned bright red as she looked away, the slightest of smiles overcoming her expression until she remembered the conversation, remembered Catra, and her face fell. 

Wait. Wait, was that flirting? Real flirting? Was -that- how it was done? He leaned down and whispered to Entrapta, “That was… Obvious flirting, right?” 

“Hmm?” She had her Data Pad out now, and was scanning for signals. She looked up at Hordak, smiled, and said, “what was?” 

Perfuma nudged Hordak in the side. He turned to glance at her. She nodded, leaned in, and whispered, “That wasn’t just flirting, She was obviously hitting on her.” 

Ah. Huntara - another of his former troops, had been hitting on Scorpia, and that seemed to make her happy for a moment at least. She distracted her from Catra at least, so it was a good thing, yes?

Questions for later. This was not the place to ask stupid questions about Etherian courting rituals. 

Huntara chuckled and went back to her drink, “Yeah. Heard apparently she started giving Prime some lip in front of some of his weird-ass troops-“ 

Hordak couldn’t help it- he winced. Huntara caught that, and glanced up at him, “Man. He’s really got the lot of you trained.” She said. Hordak glanced away, his eyes narrowed. 

“His soldiers do not ‘give lip’. At all. Of any kind.” 

“Yeah. She found that out the hard way.” Huntara said, “One minute she’s mouthing off, the next she’s writhing in pain on the floor.” She took another drink before adding, “One guy said it looked like a seizure. A lot of people left that day. Or tried to.” 

“Gee. How horrible. To get zapped until you pass out.” Entrapta muttered next to Hordak.

_ Couldn’t happen to a better person. _ Hordak thought, but he didn’t say it as Scorpia looked absolutely horrified. She turned to Adora, “We have to go back and save her!” She said. 

“Going back at this time wouldn’t be possible,” Hordak said, “If we go back, Horde Prime will start an actual attack. He can’t get all his troops in at us just now - I hope- but I assure you there’s still damage that he can do.” He shook his head, “No. we can’t go back.”

Huntara Watched Scorpia for a moment as a look of comprehension flooded her face. “Well” She said, “Aside from that, I haven’t heard anything worse. Besides-“ She glanced back at Hordak, “If she managed to get your shit wrecked, then she’d probably be smart enough to keep herself safe.” 

Hordak raised a brow, unsure what that phrase meant. 

“I.. Uh.. well, Catra didn’t exactly do anything-“

“No?” Huntara said, “I heard that she led Hordak like a lamb to the slaughter.” She looked at Hordak, her eyes flicking to his pendant, “Oh. That thing.” She said, “I wanted to know… Does the writing on it really mean, “Twink?” 

Perfuma was only scarcely able to contain her snickering. Everyone else, save for Entrapta, had their lips pressed together tightly. 

Hordak looked down at Entrapta, “Twink?”

“I’ll explain later.” She promised. 

“I… I assure you.” Adora said, her face in her hand, “It reads, ‘loved’” 

“Eh. I figured that was most likely, but also it’s the most boring. Oh well.” She finished her drink, “So. You want to get back to that ship you found the last time?” She asked Adora. 

“Yeah, We need to get some supplies from it.” 

“You know the way. I don’t see why you need me.” 

“Well… Nobody knows the Crimson Wastes like you, and you can get us there safely.”

“You’re worried about staying safe?” She quirked up a brow, “You have Hordak and a former Force Captain, She-Ra, an Archer, and…” She looked at Entrapta and Perfuma, “ What do you two do?” 

“I’m strictly here to go over the materials we’re getting.” Entrapta said. 

“Entrapta can handle herself.” Adora said quickly, “She survived on beast island for more than a week.” 

As she said that the familiar pang of guilt hit Hordak, but he tried to ignore it as he wrapped his fingers around the strand of hair Entrapta had around his wrist. 

“And Perfuma can control plants.” Adora continued, “But we still don’t know the wastes well. We could use the help.” 

Huntara glanced to Scorpia, then back to Hordak, “And how do I know you won’t attack me when I’m not looking?” She asked, “Maybe get a little revenge for leaving all those years ago.” 

Hordak leaned forward, frowning. “Tell me; How many deserters were hunted down on my orders and dragged back to the Fright Zone?” 

“Well, from what I heard, Adora was-“ 

Hordak held up a hand, “No no.” He said, “That was - surprisingly- against my orders. No. How many people do you know of were dragged back for punishment on my orders?” 

Huntara eyed him wearily, but didn’t respond. 

“I have no interest in dealing with people who ran off years ago. I’m not in charge of the Fright Zone anymore- as you well know.” He sat upright, “My objective is singular- Entrapta wants supplies, and as such I will make sure she gets those supplies, and returns from this place unharmed.”

“I see.” She said, “Supplies for what, exactly.” 

Hordak hesitated, wondering how much he could tell Huntara and just how trustworthy she was. Adora cleared her throat, “I think we can tell her.” She said, “I think she’d likely be interested in helping, overall.” She glanced back at Huntara, “Uh… that is, if you’re ok with working with… us?” 

Huntara glanced at Hordak, “Yeah, sure.” She said, “I’m curious enough at least. Besides-” She grinned at Scorpia, “I can’t let such a sweetie as this wander in the desert alone.”

Hordak watched Scorpia’s face brighten again for just a moment as she looked away from Huntara, flushed. He decided to pay some attention to the large, lavender woman. He might just learn something. 


	72. Tongue Lasher

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good morning!
> 
> Another week of isolation, meaning more writing from me! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. :D I hope you all enjoy it. 
> 
> As always, stay safe, stay healthy, stay the hell inside.

The plan was simple: it was already a little past noon and it would take them several hours of walking to get from the bar to Mara’s ship. Apparently they had to walk because their transport couldn’t deal with the heat. 

Hordak made a mental note to upgrade BrightMoon’s transports when this was over with. 

Once they were there it was up to Hordak, Bow, and of course Entrapta to dig through the wreckage and figure out what was useful. Depending on what they found that could take several more hours. Since the Crimson Wastes were apparently more dangerous at night, they’d not be travelling back this day. They’d camp in the ruins of Mara’s ship and head back the next morning. 

“I didn’t sign up for camping in the Crimson Wastes!” Perfuma groaned as they travelled away from the bar and into the wide, hot expanse of the desert, “I don’t have anything to sleep on!” 

“I’m sure you’ll manage without your feather bed for one night, Princess.” Huntara said as she looked backwards at Perfuma, “Or maybe you can grow yourself a bed of roses.” 

“Roses have thorns! That wouldn’t be comfortable!” 

“Honestly, I think I’ll be happier sleeping on the ground tonight.” Scorpia said, stretching, “The beds at Bright Moon are really soft. I’m not used to it, and It kinda hurts my back.” She glanced at Bow, “Are they really stuffed with feathers?”

“I think so?” Bow said as they walked, “I mean, I never looked inside-“ 

“Goose down, most likely.” Entrapta said as she trailed alongside Hordak on her hair, “And the pillows are stuffed with it too, I think. Whenever I wake up I have bits of feather in my hair and Hordak has to help me get them out.” 

Huntara glanced backwards, eying the towering figure of Hordak who just shrugged in response, hoping that she wasn’t paying any mind to his ears. 

“The Lord of the Fright Zone, sleeping on a feather bed in Bright Moon. That’s something I didn’t think I’d hear.” Huntara said as she turned back to the desert. 

“I sleep where I can.” Hordak said, “If that’s a feather bed or a rock in the middle of the wastes, it doesn’t matter to me. So long-...So long as it’s relatively safe.” He glanced down at Entrapta. He had been about to say ‘so long as i’m near Entrapta”. But he managed to curb that. He couldn’t say that in front of all these people. 

He realized that he would have to choose between distancing himself from her tonight, or letting the others see him being Affectionate. If it were just Bow, Adora, and Perfuma then maybe it wouldn’t be such a big issue, but Scorpia was one of his former troops, and he didn’t know Huntara. He didn’t want to be stared at. 

Huntara gave a little chuckle, “Well, you’re right about that. It doesn’t matter. Company is more important.” She glanced at Scorpia, “Righ, Red?”

Scorpia flushed red, and stammered out something about bunks and blankets. Still, Hordak took note of that. That was more or less what he had been about to say regarding Entrapta. True, it wouldn’t have been an attempt to flirt, it would have simply been stating a fact, but still!

How could HUntara say these things, and still manage to keep her composure! Huntara was very much the kind of person that Hordak was used to dealing with in the fright zone - Confidant, composed, and giving off an air of danger. How was she able to say these things and not come off as ridiculous? Was he supposed to be able to say stuff like that if he wanted to flirt?

“Ugh! Why is the sun so hot!” Perfuma whined. 

“Because the sun is hot, Princess.” Huntara snapped, “Better question- Why did you wear that outfit” 

“This?” Perfuma looked at her strappy top, “Because it was the lightest thing I had.” 

“You’re going to get a nice burn.” Huntara said before turning away. 

Perfuma grumbled to herself as she shaded her eyes, “I hate this. I’m not used to being somewhere without any shade, without any grass, it’s too hot, and there’s nothing but cacti out here!” 

Hordak raised a brow at Perfuma; she had said the word ‘cacti’ with a distaste that surprised him, “You dislike cacti?” He asked, “I assumed you liked all plants.” 

“Perhaps I should have made something to block excess UV rays.” Entrapta said as she looked around. She had her goggles down to protect her eyes from the sunlight, and her hair puffed out over her to give her some shade, “I didn’t think of it. Well, For next time!” 

“I will not be coming next time! No next time!” Perfuma insisted. 

Hordak sighed. They were a good distance from the bar now, and if they were going to be sleeping out in the wastes then Huntara would eventually see his wings anyway as the straps Entrapta had around them would be too uncomfortable to wear for the whole night. He pulled the cloak off his shoulders and dropped it on Perfuma’s head. 

“.... Hordak?” 

“If we’re travelling back in the morning, you being burned will hinder us. Though, I’m sure Adora could fix that with her sword.”

Adora looked back at Hordak, “Uh… sir- er, Hordak? I don’t think the sword is supposed to be used for healing sunburns.” 

“Why not?” Hordak asked, tilting his head towards her. 

“It’s a bit trivial.” 

“Is there a cost to using your sword for healing?”

Adora frowned, her brows knitting in confusion, “N-not that I know of?” She said.

Hordak frowned and looked to Entrapta, “Not that she knows of.” He scoffed, “That’s why I don’t like magic.” 

“Why?” Adora asked. 

“You don’t know the cost of what you’re doing with that sword. It could have a cost - it could not. For all you know it’s draining you of your own vitality each time you use it to heal someone.” He frowned, remembering that her, Shadow Weaver, and that sword had in fact healed him rather intensely only days ago. Would there be a cost to that? 

“I… But, no, Shadow Weaver would have mentioned something. Or Light Hope.” 

Hordak glanced down at Entrapta, “Is there a way to determine a cost?” He asked

“I have theories that the powers of the runestones, all the princesses, and even She-Ra is powered by the planet itself.” She looked up, “Think of the planet as a giant power source, and the runestones as outlets. So long as the planet can power what she’s trying to do then theoretically there should be no “cost” to Adora herself. “ She frowned as she looked back down to her Data Pad, “But… I didn’t get to finish my research on that. Maybe when we get through all this, I can get back to that!” 

Adora seemed relieved, but Hordak still wasn’t convinced. 

“Perhaps it’s best not to use it unless it’s absolutely needed then.” Hordak agreed. 

“I’m sure we can make something to soothe any burns when we get back-“ Entrapta said, glancing at Perfuma, “But Hordak is right- it wouldn’t be good if you developed intense UV burns. Best to stay under that cloak for now.” 

“And now he’s sharing his cloak with the flower Princess.” Huntara muttered. She turned back, “What about you then  _ Lord  _ Hordak.” She glanced over his dress, “If anything, you’re wearing less than she is.” 

“Not hardly.” Hordak retorted, “Besides, it would take a lot more than that pathetic excuse for a sun to burn me.” He frowned, and looked down to Entrapta again, “I still don’t like calling it a sun. What kind of sun orbits its planet.” 

“A tiny one.” She responded. 

“So, You don’t burn?” Perfuma asked him. 

“I do.” Hordak said, “But it’d take a lot more than this. This heat is comfortable for me. The rest of this planet is too cold.” 

“That’s why it was so stuffy in the Fright Zone.” Huntara said. 

“That’s why my personal lab was warmer. I had little input on the climate of the rest of the fright zone. I delegated that.” 

They lapsed into silence as they walked. Hordak looked back and saw that the bar was mostly out of sight now - just a receding spot on the horizon. He turned back, enjoying the feel of the sun on his shoulders and his still bound wings. If he thought that he’d be able to walk without being thrown off balance by the damn things he’d have gotten Entrapta to take the straps off; it'd be nice to stretch them out in the sun. 

No matter. So far, it was a much better trip than the nightmare of going up into the Frozen North, and it was looking to be almost a pleasant excursion. So long as nothing happened, it would practically be a vacation for Hordak.

==========

They were walking through a valley, the cliffs towering overhead, when of course something happened. There was a sudden hollering as people began to emerge from the shadows of the rocks. 

Hordak flexed his hands and drew out his claws. He twitched his ears about and listened past the yelling voices. There were fifteen people coming out of hiding, and he could hear at least three more in the shadows - likely they had ranged weapons. 

“There’s more people in hiding.” He said as he and Entrapta stood back to back, her hair out and ready, his claws glinting in the light. Adora took out her sword. Bow notched an arrow. Scorpia took point near the front next to Huntara who wielded what appeared to be a quarterstaff. 

“How do you know?” Huntara asked. 

“I can hear them,” He said. “Three at least.” 

“Great.” Huntara said, “They probably have ranged weapons. I don’t like this. We’re outnumbered.” 

“... I’d not be too worried.” Hordak muttered. 

A snake-like man stepped before them, cackling, “Well well well, Huntara. Didn’t think you’d have the guts to show up out here again.” 

“Tongue Lasher.” Huntara said with a sneer, “I heard you died after Catra kicked your ass, took your crew, took your whip-“ 

“It takes more than that to kill me!” He said, “Tongue Lasher doesn-“ 

“Wait.” Hordak said, frowning, “... Tongue Lasher?” 

“Ah! You’ve heard of me!” He said, “Yes! I am Tongue Lasher; The strongest in the Crimson Wastes!” 

“Second.” Huntara said. “And that’s only because Catra left the wastes.”

“Tongue Lasher?” Hordak said in disbelief. He turned to Entrapta, “Really? Really?! “ 

“Really.” 

Hordak turned to Tongue Lasher, “Please tell me that’s a nickname.” 

“It's his actual name, Hordak.” Huntara said, “Trust me.” 

“Wait... Hordak?” Tongue Lasher took a step back, eying Hordak, “Wait.. THAT’S HORDAK?”

“Why would anyone name their kid ‘Tongue Lasher’!” Hordak exclaimed, “Wait, you know what, I don’t want to know this time. I’m starting to understand the reasoning behind Etherian names. Castaspella, Perfuma, Bow. I do not need to know why THAT thing is called ‘Tongue Lasher’.” 

“He’s… honestly not as big as I thought he’d be.” Tongue Lasher said, taking a step forward. “Is this the Lord Hordak that everyone was afraid of?” He cackled, “This is the Lord Hordak who lost his army for some princess? He looks kinda scrawny now that I’m seeing him up close.” 

“Look Tongue Lasher.” Huntara said, “We’re in a rush, and honestly, I’m in no mood to deal with you. So I’m going to make you a deal - you and your crew sneak away, and maybe we won’t wreck your shit.” 

“Moron. You’re outnumbered!” Tongue Lasher said. He waved into the cliffs, “I’ve rebuilt my crew! The finest warriors in the wastes-“ 

“The finest warriors that are left that don’t hate your guts, you mean.” 

“- all ready to rip you apart unless you do what I say.” 

“Tongue Lasher. Go away.” Huntara said, deadpan, “I really don’t have the time or patience for you.” 

Hordak frowned, and looked down at Entrapta, “Maybe he’s just called Tongue Lasher because he talks a lot?” 

“I thought you didn’t want to know?” 

“That’s a far better explanation than what I thought of first- trust me.” 

“HEY!” Tongue Lasher yelled, “I will not be disrespected like this!” He raised a hand and snapped a finger. 

Hordak heard bows being drawn, then loosed. He moved quickly, pushing Entrapta and Perfuma to the ground and snatching the last arrow out of the air just before it struck him. 

Their attack had given their location away, so Hordak moved. He ran to the cliffs, hit a button on his boots to loosen up his feet as he climbed with a speed that he had forgotten he possessed. There was almost a joy to it- he could move more freely now than he had in decades. For so many years when he tried to move quickly it had felt like he was moving through water- slow and sluggish. He had been so agile before the Perma Frost had robbed him of his physical health. 

He jumped up the last outcropping of rocks and loomed before the first archer, who backed up and started to draw a knife. Before they could pull it fully out of its sheath Hordak sliced through their arm, grabbed the other arm, twisted it and snapped the elbow. The sound of the crack echoed through the valley just seconds before their scream of pain. 

Another bow was drawn a little ways off. Hordak jumped off the ledge with such force that he flew towards the other archer, grabbed his head and smacked the back of his head into the rocks. He managed to hold back just enough that he didn’t shatter his skull, but they were now in no shape to attack them, and they’d be heavily concussed after this. 

The other archer was just underneath. Hordak back-flipped as he pushed himself off the cliff, hit the button on his boots so his feet were encased in metal once more, and landed - heels first- on the final archers shoulders. He cried out in pain, dropping his bow. Hordak jumped down before him, kneed him in the stomach, snatched up the bow and jumped off the rocks once more landing back on the ground next to Entrapta, bow in hand. 

The whole thing had taken seconds. The others gawked at Hordak as he drew himself back up to full height. He held the bow before him, cracked it in half, and let it drop to the ground. 

Huntara’s eyes were wider than they were before, but she kept her tone level. “We could have used that bow.” She said. 

“There’s two more up in the cliffs that I'm sure this Tongue Lasher won’t mind giving to us.” He said. 

“Wait!” Tongue Lasher said, Taking a step back, “What the hells’ on your back! Nobody told me you had wings!” 

“Tongue Lasher, you idiot, you didn’t even know it was Hordak until I called him Hordak.”

“Why the hell does it look like you got bondage gear on your back!” 

Hordak frowned. Bondage gear? He looked down at Entrapta with a raised brow but to his surprise, she was flushed deep red. 

“Entrapta?”

“I’ll explain later.” She said. Hordak felt his ears droop down and warm up. He had a feeling he wasn’t going to like that.

“Well, Bondage gear or not, Hordak just took down your backup archers in... What, twenty seconds?” She glanced back at Hordak, “How many do you think you could take in a minute.” 

“Not sure.” Hordak said, lifting his hand to let his claws glint off the light, “Let’s find out.” 

=========

About five minutes later they were walking out of the valley laden down with food, drink, and a new jacket for Perfuma so that Hordak could take his cloak back. That had been Huntara’s suggestion. 

“I won’t be able to look at your back now without thinking of you wearing bondage gear. Please wear your cloak.” She said as she gave Perfuma the jacket. 

“I’m not going to enjoy learning what that is, am I?” Hordak said to Entrapta. 

“Uh..” Perfuma glanced aside, “It’s when someone likes being tied down or bound up when they’re… uh,  _ intimate.  _ Sometimes they have certain outfits that… look a certain way.”

“I see.” Hordak said, feeling his face and ears burn. He pulled his cloak around him tighter, but didn’t say anything else. 

Entrapta would be making something new for his wings when they got back to BrightMoon. 

  
  
  
  
  



	73. Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Good Morning!
> 
> I feel like I have to clear something up from the last chapter. 
> 
> Entrapta did not intentionally put Hordak in bondage gear to go into the Crimson Wastes. She re-purposed his old strappy armor (which was made for private use, and with a particular aesthetic in mind) to hold his wings down, and didn't even consider what it looked like when she was done. 
> 
> Anyway!
> 
> Enjoy this chapter! stay safe, and stay inside!

They managed to make their way to Mara’s old ship without too much more trouble. They had managed to avoid quicksand, a desert dragon, and a pack of wild, aggressive predatory cats with Huntara’s expertise. Once the ship came in view, it was Perfuma who ran ahead, wanting to get out of the sun. 

“Princess, wait!” Huntara called after her as she ran towards the ship. 

“We’re here now.” Adora said, “It should be safe, right?”

“Maybe.” Huntara said, “Things can change quickly in the wastes though, and it’s not a good idea-“ 

Just as she said that, Perfuma fell from their sight. They could only hear her scream until she hit something. 

“Great.” Huntara muttered as she started walking ahead, “It’s probably a cave under loose sand. We should go pull her out-“ 

She didn’t finish her statement when they heard Perfuma scream again - a scream of pure terror. They all ran up to where she had been to see what had happened. When they got to the place where she had fallen they saw a wide, circular pit with a series of caves around the bottom. From one of the caves crawled out some kind of spider - a tarantula, and if Hordak were to judge it was a tarantula that stood at least four times taller than he himself stood. 

At his side, Entrapta gasped, “I didn’t know arachnids could get that big!” 

Hordak was very glad that it was so big. He had no problem with the big insects. 

“We have to get her out!” Huntara said, looking over the side as she pulled out her quarterstaff. She was about to jump over the side when Adora stopped her. 

“Perfuma’s a lot stronger than you think.” She said, “She’s got this.” 

Hordak looked down, watching as the tarantula approached the trembling Perfuma. She lifted her hands before her, and the cacti that managed to grow on the bottom of the pit shuddered, bulged… And then exploded, covering Perfuma in cacti juice. 

“She doesn’t have this.” Hordak said. Before anyone else could react or discuss what to do, he jumped over the edge of the pit and slid down, getting about halfway down before he jumped off the side and put himself between Perfuma and the tarantula. Entrapta was down after him, skittering on her hair as he heard Adora transform. A series of arrows flew down from above, hitting the tarantula in the face and exploding in a puff of smoke that forced it to back up. 

“I can deal with this.” Hordak called back to Entrapta, “Get Princess Perfuma out.” 

“Are you certain?” She asked. 

“Yes.” 

Entrapta wrapped Perfuma up with her hair and made her way back up out of the pit. The smoke around the tarantula faded off, and in that moment it was able to see what looked like a smaller, pink spider taking away it’s meal. It lunged at Entrapta, but Hordak stopped it, jumping onto one of its forelegs and snapping the joint, causing it to fall to the ground. It managed to pick itself back up and turned its attention to Hordak, it’s fangs dripping poison, it’s mandibles clattering angrily. 

It was in that moment that Huntara landed to his left, and Adora, now transformed, landed to his right. 

“This wouldn’t have been a problem if she waited.” Huntara muttered, “And you just had to jump down after her.” She glanced at Adora, “I thought she could handle herself!” 

“She normally could!” Adora insisted, “I don’t know what happened.” 

“Not important.” Hordak said. The tarantula lunged at them, but missed as they jumped out of the way. Hordak looked around the pit, it was huge, but given the size of the tarantula before them they only had limited space to move. The spider lunged again, crashing into the side of the pit as the three of them moved again. Sand came loose and fell over them. 

“Do you two remember any of your basic maneuver training?” He asked Adora and Huntara. 

“Hard to forget that.” Huntara hissed. 

“Good.” Hordak said as he stood up, grabbing a rock in one hand as he did, “Angler maneuver. I’ll be the bait.” 

“You sure?” Adora said, “Entrapta might kill us all if it gets you.” 

“Either of you faster than me?” 

There was a moment of silence, then Adora and Huntara both took off running around opposite sides of the tarantula. It seemed confused as they moved, splitting up as suddenly as they did. Before it could decide who to go after Hordak wound up and threw the rock as hard as he could, smacking the spider just on the side of it’s head. 

THe spider shook it’s giant head, dazed, then turned it’s look at Hordak. Hordak gave a screech to draw it’s attention, taking a step forward as he picked up another rock and threw it at its head. When it struck one of it’s many eyes, it was angry. It lunged. Hordak waited until the last moment to jump out of the way, letting it get dangerously close to him. He needed this creature to be focused on him as Adora and Huntara got distance and climbed up the sides of the pit. He could see them making decent time- Adora moving faster because of her transformation and Huntara moving with skill and expertise that only comes with years and years of practice. 

The spider lunged again. Rather than moving right out of the way, Hordak slid to one side. The spider slid it’s mandiables along the ground after him, but Hordak jumped back out of the way. It lunged again, and this time when Hordak leapt out of it’s way he found his back to the wall of the pit. The tarantula loomed over him, making angry clicking noises as it reared back. Just as it was about to lunge, Adora and Huntara jumped off the sides of the pit and onto it’s back. Adora plunged her sword deep into it’s thorax as Huntara landed on it’s head, shoving her quarterstaff into its mouth and pulling upwards until Hordak could hear a part of it’s exoskeleton crack. It tried to shake Huntara off, now fully distracted from it’s new prey as it stumbled to the side. 

After a moment of shaking, it fell over with it’s legs twitching. 

“I didn’t think you got involved with basic training.” Huntara said as she jumped off the tarantula’s head and landed next to Hordak. 

“I don’t. Not anymore.” Hordak said idly as he stood upright, “But I did back in the beginning.” 

Adora turned back to normal and came up to Hordak, her sword turning back into an armband, “You know, we used to say that all these maneuvers were pointless.” She said, “You know, memorizing them. I guess they’re not.” 

“Correct- I’d not be able to instruct you on what to do in the moment, and if the creature had been sentient, then having to shout out instructions would have ruined the attack.” 

They started climbing up the side of the pit. Hordak got to the top first and was almost knocked back into the pit by Entrapta who jumped onto him, her hair wrapping around him. 

“I thought you weren’t going to do anything dangerous anymore!” She said, “Not stupidly dangerous!” 

“It wasn’t.” Hordak assured her, “I had no doubt that I’d be able to manage that with my restored body.” He gave her a reproachful look, “Besides, you went down there too. You’re not as fast as I am, that thing could easily have attacked -“ 

“Hey, lovebirds!” Huntara called out from below, “If you two got a minute, think Princess Entrapta can pull us up with her magic hair?” 

Hordak felt his ears flush as Entrapta released him and started to help Huntara and Adora up from the pit. Hordak stretched and went over to Bow, who was sitting kneeling next to Perfuma. 

“Smoke arrows.” He said, “Interesting. Do you normally carry an array with you? You had electric arrows when we were attacked by the drones in the Whispering Woods, if I recall properly.” 

Bow glanced up, “Uh, it’s not the arrows, it’s the attachments. It’s easier to carry around a bunch of attachments than it is to carry around a bunch of different arrows.” 

Hordak nodded and glanced at Perfuma, “Are you injured?” He asked. Perfuma shook her head, unspeaking. She was pale, and had her arms wrapped around her legs. 

“I think she’s in shock.” Bow said. Hordak nodded, and looked over to the ship. 

“We’ll get to the ship then.” He said, “Get her out of the sun.” He had questions for the flower princess, but now wasn’t the time to ask them. 

=========

Despite the shade, the inside of Mara’s ship was still pleasantly warm to Hordak. Hordak found himself looking forward to their task for the rest of the day, especially as Entrapta’s eyes lit up and her hair puffed up all around her as she eyed the tech. 

“There’s so much First Ones tech here!” She squealed as she started lifting herself up all around the ship, examining anything that hadn’t been scavenged beforehand. The beams of light that filtered through the broken pieces of the ship caught on her hair, her eyes sparkled with excitement, and she had that big, wide, excited smile that she had when she was so happy and excited about something that she couldn’t contain herself. Seeing her so excited, Hordak felt his wings strain slightly on the straps under his cloak, and despite how they looked, he was grateful for them. 

_ Beautiful.  _

“I know, isn’t it!” Entrapta called back to him. Hordak felt his ears flush - he hadn’t meant to say anything out loud. 

“Great.” Huntara muttered as she put her bag down, “Idiots in love. It’s gonna be a long night.” She looked around the ship, “I’m going to check for other dangers.” 

Hordak nodded as he looked away from Entrapta and let his eyes glance around the ship. There was First Ones writing everywhere, which of course he couldn’t read. 

“Well” He said, frowning, “This is ancient.” 

“Yeah. It’s been covered up here in the wastes since Mara’s time.” Bow said, but Hordak shook his head. 

“No. The style of the ship itself. They’re not made like this anymore. Advances aside, this is….” he frowned as he considered the layout. It was a far more open concept than he expected, “Very distinctive.” 

“Well, I guess it was how they did them back then?” 

Hordak shook his head, “I’ve studied the history of astro-engineering.” He said, “It’s … required reading, as it were.” He frowned as he looked about the ship, “No. This is different. I’ve never seen anything like this before.” 

Entrapta looked down at Hordak, “Not even in space?” She asked. 

“Not even in space.” Hordak made his way to the cockpit. Everything was written in first ones so of course he couldn’t read anything. He made a note that he should perhaps take the time to learn to read it. His eyes glazed over the writing as he looked at the actual button and controls. Despite not being able to read anything, he was able to pick out most of what he was looking at. 

Then his eyes stopped, lingering on a certain design in the middle of the dashboard. It didn’t seem connected to any buttons or controls. He frowned. He knew that symbol- a series of strange lines, triangles, and dots. 

“Adora.” 

“Hordak?” 

“What does this say?” He asked as he tapped on the symbol. Adora walked up behind him and took a look at what he was pointing at. 

“First Ones Royal Airforce.” She said, ”And underneath, it says 574. Why?” 

===============

<<Enemy in sight.>> DH said over the communicator.

<<Fire now.>> T1 said, glancing up at the com window. DH’s ears were pinned back in concentration as they took aim. 

<<If I hold off, I can probably catch the others in the explosion from the first>> DH said. 

T1 looked again at the ships that were chasing DH. Snakes. Well, they weren’t actually snakes, but this type of ship had a weird symbol on it, a large triangle with a chaotic trailing line behind it. It looked roughly like a snake to them. 

<<Negative.>> T1 said, <<Snakes. They’re too fast, and too tricky. Get rid of the one you’re locked on, and then perform evasive->>

<<I can do this!>> -determination- 

T1 sighed, <<You’ll try, and you’ll blow up. Again.>> -irritation- 

DH didn’t listen. They waited until the other two snakes were closer, then fired. The first snake twisted out the way, and the three of them surrounded DH’s ship, hitting it with powerful lasers until the ship took enough damage and exploded. 

T1 sighed, looped around, and took out one of the snakes before the other two caught their right engine and sent them into a tailspin before they were hit with an energy wave that disintegrated their ship. 

“Simulation complete: Mission: Failure.” 

T1 growled as they took off their VR helmet, and looked over at DH who was sitting in their VR pod, their helmet in their hands. 

<<Sorry.>> They said, their ears flicking down in shame. << I thought I could get them.>>

<<The snakes are always faster, and trickier than the others.>> T1 said. The other ships that they might encounter during their training were based on maneuvers from other races that they encountered, but these snakes were a little extra something that Horde Prime himself had programmed. They were the hardest enemies in the combat simulations. 

<<I… Yeah, I know. I just thought I could do it.>>

<<Don't get greedy with these ones.>> T1 said as they put their helmet on. <<Come on. Let’s run this again until we get it right.>>

DH nodded and put their helmet on. 

<<Restart simulation.>> T1 said, and once again they were in the wide expanse of space in their virtual reality, being chased down by a handful of snakes. 

====

“I didn’t think that Horde Prime fought the First ones…” Adora said, “You never mentioned it.” 

“I didn’t think he did.” Hordak said slowly, straining his mind to recall all the military history that he could. “I don’t mean to suggest that my historical knowledge is flawless and encyclopedic, but the First One’s were never mentioned in my studies. I never heard of them before I came here.” He reached out and touched the control panel. “I figured that they had been stuck in Despondos as well, perhaps some ancient, advanced civilization that sufference some kind of calamity.” He shook his head, “But no. That makes no sense. Otherwise, how would Horde Prime be able to read First Ones? And this ship, it’s distinctive, but there’s certain additions that were common across the board for ancient ships. Also, obviously, this is a ship designed for deep space exploration and transportation. Clearly, the First Ones had access to the rest of the universe. I should have heard of them I should have-“

Hordak trailed off. Numbers and dates ran through his head. Information that he normally would have put together long ago had he not been distracted by everything else started to fit together like puzzle pieces. 

“Hordak?” Entrapta asked, Gliding down towards him. 

“How long ago was this planet put in despondos.” 

“... About a thousand years ago.” Adora said, “Why?” 

Hordak frowned as he looked at the symbol on the dashboard, “Because in his notes, Horde Prime mentioned an enemy that he had defeated about a thousand years ago.” He turned to Entrapta, “Horde Prime did fight the First Ones. Horde Prime defeated them after the failure of some grand weapon they had been designing.

Entrapta’s hair puffed up all around her twisting and curling as she gasped, “Hordak!” She said, “It makes perfect sense!” She set herself down on the ground, pacing around them, “It all makes sense now! The powering of the planet's core, the runestones, the first ones tech!” She turned to Hordak. “You get it, right?” 

“I think I do.” He said, frowning. 

“Can you explain it to us?” Bow asked. 

One thousand years ago, Etheria was thrown into despondos. One thousand years ago, Horde Prime defeated the First ones. One thousand years ago, some grand weapon the First ones were working on malfunctioned, and this planet's core is-“ 

“It’s highly irregular! There’s no way it could have formed naturally! From all the readings I’ve collected over the years, it has to have been artificially created! Which means this whole planet had to be artificially created, but I never knew why. But now I do.” 

Hordak nodded. “Etheria isn’t just a planet” He said, nodded, “It’s either the power source to this weapon, or potentially, the weapon itself.” 

  
  
  
  
  



	74. Cacti

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good morning!
> 
> Anyone getting worried about the new season yet? I am. but if I don't like it, or it makes me said, I'll just replace that canon with my own canon! 
> 
> on that note - have another chapter. Stay safe, and stay inside.

It was dark by the time they finished gathering up all the materials that they thought they would need. Hordak and Entrapta worked on creating a makeshift desert transport to bring everything to their proper vehicle the next day. Bow, Adora, Perfuma, and Huntara were sitting in a circle in the center of the large ship, eating some strange cacti fruit that Huntara had found. 

“I think I need to go see Light Hope again when we get back.” Adora said out of nowhere. “She has to know about the weapon, right?” 

“Possibly.” Hordak said without looking up at the wiring he was putting together. His hands stilled as he worked, “If that weapon was something that could have caused problems for Horde Prime, then it might be useful to us when we have to fight him.” Hordak’s mind raced - what kind of weapon might the First Ones have created? He frowned, “Also, I just realized another problem.” 

“What’s that?” Entrapta asked, popping up from under the transport where she was putting together the hydraulics. 

“There’s a chance that Horde Prime Might have an idea that this planet was connected to that weapon.”

“Wait. How!” Adora said as she sat upright, “I mean, we only just figured it out -“ 

“It’s only now that all the information came together for us.” Hordak said, “But Prime has all the information. Mostly. He doesn’t know about the core of the planet. Yet. I hope.” He knew that if Horde Prime wanted to investigate the core of the planet then he wouldn’t have much trouble doing so. “Horde Prime knows that something happened 1000 years ago that stopped this weapon the First Ones were making, and he knows that there’s First Ones influence here.” 

“Would he actually put that together?” Bow asked. 

“Depends on how much more information he has.” Hordak said, “I don’t know everything that Horde Prime knows.” He frowned as the wires sparked in front of him. “DH might have a better idea.” 

“Who’s this DH.” Huntara asked. 

“An old friend of Hordak’s” Adora said, “They have inside knowledge on Horde Prime.”

“Our best bet might be to use this weapon ourselves.” Hordak said after a moment, “If we can figure it out. If it’s still functioning. If we can use it without all of Etherian imploding.” 

“Etheria won’t implode.” Entrapta said firmly, “It’s more likely to tear the planet apart with excess power if what I’ve researched is correct.” 

“That… That’s not better.” Hordak said. 

“We’ll talk to Light Hope.” Adora said, “She’ll have more information. Maybe even information that Horde Prime doesn’t have, right?” 

“Possibly.” Hordak said. He finished the wiring and stood upright, frowning. If Prime knew about the weapon, or suspected that Etheria had something to do with it then there was a chance that he - like them - were doing all this diplomacy stuff to bide time. Horde Prime might be investigating the planet while they were plotting against him. 

“Perhaps a stupid question.” Huntara muttered from where she was reclining, “But why not attack Horde Prime now? It’s not like you can’t fight. You have the Princesses, you have Adora, and from what I’ve seen, you’re pretty fast and strong yourself… though” She frowned, “I guess if you’re that fast, then all the others are too.” 

Hordak cursed under his breath. The silence that filled the ship was deafening . 

“Wait.” Adora said, “You... No. They can’t be as fast as you. Right?” There was panic in her voice. “You said you were the Prime’s general- what was it? Horde Alpha? You must have been stronger and faster than the average clone, right?” 

Hordak shook his head.” No.” He said. He figured that sugarcoating the truth at this point wouldn’t help anyone. “In fact…What you saw today was less than optimal. The wings still throw me off balance, and I haven’t moved like that in decades. I’m out of practice and stiff.” He glanced up at Adora’s horrified face, “The other clones will be far faster than I, and likely much stronger since they’ve been in combat training constantly. It’s my mind that set me apart in the first place.” 

“Right. Because Hordak isn’t a clone!” Entrapta said firmly as she moved to work on something on the other side of the transport, passing by Hordak quickly and giving him a peck on the cheek before moving on. Hordak tried to ignore the sudden flush to his ears. 

“Right. Yes. Correct.” He said, “I am not. I - apparently- have not been designed for combat as they have. Though, I was trained for it once” 

There was a long moment of silence around them. Hordak got up and moved to the other side of the transport to work on more wiring. 

“But… But how are we supposed to beat them then!?’ Adora said, “They’re so many, and you said there were many many more-“ 

“You should figure out this weapon and use it on them. Right away.” Huntara said. “You said that there’s more of those soldiers in space, right? Stop them before they open the portal and -“ 

“That won’t work.” Hordak said, “If we kill Horde Prime in here, then his consciousness will simply transfer to a backup body-“ 

“But how.” Adora said, “I thought the whole reason you were making your portal in the first place was to send a signal to him. How would he upload his consciousness from here. 

“If Horde Prime is gone for long enough, then the soldiers on his mothership will open a portal on their side. Prime will upload to his new body, and the full attack will begin.”

“So… you have to kill prime’s backup body?” Huntara asked. 

“I have to….deactivate, all the other clones to get to Prime’s backup and cut the link.” Hordak said, “They all have implants in their heads. I can use those to stop them en masse. 

“Well.” Huntara said, “It seems harsh, but I guess there’s no other way. How many clones will you be killing if you do that.” 

Hordak felt his stomach clench, “All of them.”

============

It was late. The work was done, and the others were sleeping while Hordak took the watch. Huntara had been in the middle of divvying up watch shifts when Hordak pointed out that he didn’t need to sleep for more than an hour or so. He sat next to Entrapta, leaning against an old table, his wings wrapping around him and his mate. 

The desert got a little cold for his liking at night, so the heat that his wings helped to keep in, and the heat from Entrapta’s body was a big help to keep him comfortable. Entrapta had sprawled over him as she slept, and wrapped him up in her hair. He stayed sitting upright so he wouldn’t doze off as he kept watch. 

Though, not like he could sleep anyway. He desperately wanted to talk to DH. 

All of them. 

It probably wouldn’t hurt much if he did it right. A spark to shut down the brain. They probably wouldn’t know what happened. Just one minute they’d be serving Horde Prime, and the next, darkness. There probably wouldn’t even be any pain. 

That didn’t make him feel better. He felt his chest tighten as he considered it, and pressed his face into the large strand of Entrapta’s hair that had wrapped over his shoulder. 

Entrapta’s hair. Entrapta’s skin. Entrapta’s clothes. He could smell her. He could feel her. He could hear her snoring in his arms. He focused his breathing, taking in her scent as he slowly started to calm down. 

Then he heard a gasp as Perfuma jolted awake. She looked around frantically in the darkness, yelping as she saw Hordak’s red eyes glowing. It took her a moment to remember where she was and who she was with. 

“Oh.. Oh it’s just you, Hordak.” 

“I don’t know if I like being referred to as “just” but yes, It’s only me.” 

Perfuma sat up and leaned against the wall she had decided to sleep against. “It’s so dark here.” She muttered. “How can you keep watch in this?” 

“I have excellent night vision.” 

Perfuma nodded, “I’m not surprised.” She muttered, “You seem like you’re made for this kind of environment. The dark, the heat, the sand.” 

“I don’t know about the sand, but yes, I’m far more used to more tropical environments.” 

Perfuma shook her head, and even in the dark he could see her frowning, “This isn’t a tropical environment. It’s a nightmare environment. I hate it.” She crossed her arms, “Hey, wait, you took watch when I was going to sleep. How long have you been up!?” 

“Since the rest of you went to sleep.” 

“Don’t you need to rest?” 

Hordak nodded, “I do. An hour, maybe two if I’m greedy, and I’ll have all the sleep I need. Well, so long as I’m uninjured.” He looked around at the others, “In a few hours, I’ll wake someone else up, and they can watch while I sleep.” 

Perfuma nodded, and leaned back, “I might as well take watch for you. If you want. I’m not getting back to sleep.” 

“No?” 

“Bad dreams.” 

Hordak reached down next to him, picked up a strange looking plastic tube, and tossed it to Perfuma who didn’t even make a move to catch it as it smacked her in the cheek. 

“Ow!”

“Oh.. sorry. I forgot how bad your vision is in low light.” He cleared his throat, “Crack it in half.” 

Perfuma fumbled around for the tube, and cracked it in half causing a strange green glow to emanate from it. 

“What’s THIS?”

“Emergency light.” He said, “No electricity or fuel needed. Limited time on it though. I thought you’d prefer a little light while you were awake.” He shrugged, “I found them while we were looking around the ship. I’m not surprised that they were left behind; they look worthless unless you know what they are.”

Perfuma held the light up, letting her eyes adjust to the dim light. Finally her eyes landed on Hordak, entwined in Entrapta’s hair while Entrapta slept peacefully on his chest. Hordak felt his ears warm up as he looked away. 

“You two are so cute.” Perfuma said. She wasn’t squealing and she didn’t have that awful sappy tone that the princesses sometimes had, “It’s nice to see.” 

Hordak didn’t respond, though he did set his hand gently on Entrapta’s shoulder. 

“I’m serious!” She said, “It’s… We’ll there’s so much happening. So much scary stuff happening, you know? It’s… “ She looked aside, “It’s really nice to see you and Entrapta together.” She glanced up at him, “Though, I don’t know why you’re so shy about it.” 

“I’m not-“

Perfuma gave him a tired look, “Come on, you are.” She said, “I don’t know why.” 

Hordak frowned as he looked down at Entrapta, “I’m simply not used to being affectionate. With anyone.” He frowned and looked at Perfuma with a glare, “More important than that!” He said, then lowered his voice so as not to wake anyone. ‘What happened earlier?” 

“Oh…” Perfuma frowed, holding the light to her chest, “That.” She looked down, “I didn’t think anyone noticed.” 

“So what happened.” Hordak said. “If something’s happened to your powers, we should know so we can plan for it.” He frowned, “And here the other princesses were going on about how their powers never-“ 

“My… my powers are fine.” Perfuma said, “I just have an issue with cacti. She groaned, “I hate them. They feel so weird, and they got prickly bits all over them.” She groaned, “Plants aren’t supposed to be like that. They’re supposed to be soft. How do they even grow out here anyway!” 

“Interesting.” Hordak said, “You can’t use your magic on plants that you don’t like?” 

Perfuma shook her head, “And….And if I get really sad, I can’t do it. And if I’m too stressed out it’s hard to manage. The other princesses don’t seem to have the same problems.”

“Well, they probably would if they were under the same circumstances, correct?”

She shook her head again, “I don’t know. Maybe it’s just me. Though, I heard that Glimmer couldn’t use her powers after-... Well, uh.” She glanced away, “For a bit after the whole Shadow Weaver thing. Though I don’t know why.” She looked up, “But, I should be able to use my powers out here! They’re plants.” She huffed and hugged her arms, “I should be able to do it.” 

“I don’t know if that’s a fair argument.” Hordak said, “If you have your own limitations, then you should simply take them into account, no?”

“Mermista could even manage the sewer water in the Fright Zone, and she didn’t like that!” 

“Can you do anything about it?”

“I’ve tried. I can’t even keep a potted one alive.”

Hordak gave a deep sigh, “You should have told us.” He said.

“But they needed me! I thought I could make it work….Somehow.” She shook her head, “But I only put you all in danger because I couldn’t protect myself from that spider.” 

Hordak was about to say that no, she had put them in danger because she ran off ahead of them. He figured that wasn’t the best thing to say in this moment, “It was nothing.” He said. “A stretch in the sun.” 

Perfuma gave him a joyless smile as she looked aside again. They were silent for a long time as Hordak tried to figure out what to say. Normally he’d not have said anything but she had helped him by showing him how to calm himself down if he was on the verge of one of the panic attacks. 

Now he just had to figure out how to stop having them, if that was possible. 

“You haven’t seen the right kinds of cacti.” He said as he ran his fingers through Entrapta’s hair, “The ones here are stunted. There’s planets out there where you can get cacti bigger than trees, with giant, brightly colored flowers and spikes you can climb up.” He lifted his hand, gesturing to a nearby stone, “Some of them don’t have spikes, they have puffballs as big as that stone all over them with flowers in the center.” He stopped, and let his hand drop, “Though, I suppose it can only be expected. The cacti here weren’t made for this environment. On those planets there’s extra nutrients in the soil that they need to thrive- nutrients that Etheria simply doesn’t have. That they’ve grown and survived as they have is frankly incredible.” 

“You think so?”

Hordak nodded, “Most species would simply die in a climate that’s not meant for them. Anything that can survive and live outside their element is impressive, to me.” 

Perfuma glanced up at him for a moment, then gave him a quick smile, “You know,” she said, “I think you’re right!” 

  
  



	75. information

Something woke Hordak up. He wasn’t sure what, but he knew that it was a little too soon for him to wake up. He was still quite sleepy and only wanted to stay in Entrapta’s embrace, warm under his wings and with hair entwined around him, and get just a little more sleep. 

“Tools huh?” He heard Huntara mutter, “Man, that’s kinda rough.” 

Ah. People were talking behind him. That must have been what woke up; nothing to worry about. He could go right back to sleep. 

“Yeah. Apparently all the clones are like that.” Perfuma said, “that’s one of the reasons we gotta stop Prime.” 

Wait, what? Hordak kept very still, listening over Entrapta’s soft snoring. Entrapta’s hair had gotten over his ears but he could still hear just fine. It was actually a benefit, since his ears could twitch and focus in without anyone noticing. 

“Why would Glimmer care?” Huntara asked, “I mean, they’re not Etherian. I get Hordak. He’s basically Etherian by marriage. Sorta. But why does she care about the other clones?” 

“It’s not right.” He heard perfuma say, “I mean, clones or no, they’re still people and Prime’s making them think they’re not. He’s making them think that they’re just tools. They believe that about themselves!  _ Hordak _ believed that, and even though he knows he’s not a clone I’m not convinced that he doesn’t believe that.” There was a heavy sigh, “It’s just not right. He has to be stopped.” 

“But from the plan you’ve told me you guys won’t be saving anyone. You’ll be killing all the clones, right?” 

“Gimmer’s sure that Hordak can think of another way.” Perfuma said, “He’s really smart, and you can tell he doesn’t like the idea.” 

“And if he doesn’t?”

“He will.”

“But if he doesn’t.” Huntara pressed. Hordak could hear the dull scrape of a stone on something - maybe she was sharpening a blade of some kind. “You can’t just say that he’ll figure out something.” 

There was silence through the ship. Hordak felt his stomach clench up as he shifted quietly to nuzzle into Entrapta’s neck and smell her hair. It occurred to him that he was cuddling Entrapta, nuzzling her in front of other people. His ears flicked, but he realized that nobody cared. He tightened his grip on her and felt his shoulders relax. 

“Have you guys even mentioned this to him, or are you just assuming that he’ll think of a different way.” Huntara said. 

“We… Well, it’s been hectic.” Perfuma sounded defensive as she spoke, “We didn’t think it was the right time to ask him about that.” 

“Well if you’re doing this, I think you need to mention it to him sooner than later.” Huntara said. 

“I.. I’ll mention it to Glimmer.” Perfuma is said. 

“Because if you want him to think of a better way, I think you might need to mention that to him.” The sound of the whetstone against the blade paused, “If he didn’t think of himself as a person, then what makes you think he’d consider the clones people? Maybe he wouldn’t consider them people at all. Just tools.” 

“I… I don’t think he’s like that.” Perfuma said, “I mean, he tries really hard to come off as all. You know.” He couldn’t see what Perfuma was doing, but he heard an angry growl, “But… he’s.. Well, look at him!” He felt his ears burn under Entrapta’s hair, “He’s practically sweet. Even if he thinks that they’re tools, I don’t think he feels that they’re tools, you know?” 

Huntara grunted, but didn’t say anything else.

Hordak closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep, but their words kept running through his head. 

No. He didn’t want to kill all the clones. He didn’t know what the princesses thought he could do though. Even if he was able to break the hold of the implant on the clones, they would still behave as years of conditioning and breeding had trained them to behave, and he didn’t have the information to hack the entire system that controlled the implants yet. Even if he did, the chips didn’t allow Prime any form of mind control. Technically he supposed that Memory alteration was a form of mind control but he didn’t have access to those systems and even if he did altering the minds of every clone across the galaxy in the brief window of time he’d have once the portal was open wasn’t something he was certain he could do. 

He was good, but that was a lot of clones, and he was only one Chilacian. 

He pushed the thoughts out of his head. Maybe Perfuma was right, maybe he’d think of something. He had to talk to DH. They had to figure out what was up with the planet’s core. He had to figure out what Horde Prime knew about Etheria. 

With the limited knowledge he had, he had one option - frying the brains of countless clones across the galaxy. With more information maybe he’d have another option. 

=============

When Hordak woke a little later, Entrapta had already gotten up and he opened his eyes to empty arms. He could hear Entrapta nearby though. He sat up, his wings draped over him like a blanket and yawned as his senses started to flood back up to him. 

Entrapta was pulling apart something near the control panel of the ship with her hair. “Sorry! Did we wake you?” She asked before popping a tiny piece of bread into her mouth, “We tried to keep quiet.” 

“I’ve had enough sleep.” Hordak said softly. He stretched, then sat upright and started simply lifting his wings as high up as they would go, holding them, then letting them drop. Huntara watched him do this three times in a row before she said anything. 

“So. Daily workout, I’m guessing?” 

“The wings are new.” Hordak said, “I have to exercise them if I hope to have any control over them in the long term.” 

“I was wondering why you weren’t flying around with them.” She said, “And why you had them strapped to your back.” 

Hordak gave a dry laugh, “It’ll be a long time before I can fly with these. Also, as I mentioned yesterday, they tend to throw me off balance. It’s worse if they aren’t strapped down.” She looked away from his wings, and was about to say something when she gestured to his collarbone. 

“Hey, you got a friend on your top there.” 

Hordak frowned and reached up to where she was pointing. “Friend?” He said, thoroughly confused. Something fell into his palm. He looked. 

A small, round beetle with a shiny black shell. It had been clinging to his top and had fallen into his hand on it’s back. It’s legs waved in the air. 

Hordak didn’t think. He gave a yelp and threw the beetle as hard as he could as he could to the opposite side of the ship. He furiously wiped his hand on the edge of his skirt, oblivious to the very confused look the others were giving him. 

“Really?” Huntara said after a moment of stunned silence, “Really?” 

“Ugh..” Hordak grunted, his face screwed up in revulsion. He looked up at Huntara, “What?” 

“You’re afraid of  _ bugs _ ?”

“No… Wait, Hordak, you dealt with that giant spider just yesterday.” Bow said, confused, “You were first to jump down to help Perfuma.” 

Hordak stood up; he didn’t feel comfortable sitting on the floor anymore, “Big insects are unlikely to burrow into a person.” He hissed, a shiver running through him, “It’s the small ones that burrow into the skin. Or ears.” 

Bow froze, “Wait… Are there actually bugs that do that?” 

“No.” Huntara said with a sneer, “Those are just stupid stories that people tell.” 

“I’ve seen it!” Hordak snapped, “In space. I’ve seen things. There are most certainly types of insects that will burrow into your skin and leave you full of holes. I am not taking a chance with any insects on this awful planet. “ He shuddered, “And outside of what I’ve seen out there-” HE gestured to the sky, “-do you have any idea what kind of awful parasitic insects you have here? There’s worse in space, but the awful, infectious, disgusting-“

“Hordak is disgusted by smaller insects.” Entrapta said, unphased by the proceedings, “If you can, please keep them away from him.”

“I see.” Adora said. “W-will do.” 

Hordak huffed in frustration. These backwater Etherians. If they knew half the awful things Hordak had seen in the greater universe, they’d understand.They’d experience the same revulsion that he did. Ignorance was their shield against fear, it seemed. 

Entrapta’s hair took a couple of cacti fruit from a bowl that sat in front of the others and deposited three into Hordak’s hands. “Here.” She said, pushing him towards the others and sitting him down on the floor. “I ate before you woke up. Adora said there’s a holograph here, so I want to get that out so we can set it up back at Bright Moon.” She turned to Hordak, “I figured that’d be the best thing to do, because that way we can extract all the data, AND we have more First Ones parts when we’re done.” 

Hordak sat still and confused at his sudden relocation, then settled down as Entrapta draped his wings over his shoulders. After a second he tore into the thick skin of the fruit with his sharp fangs.” 

“Huh.” Huntara said idly, “I heard you drank blood.” 

Hordak nearly choked on the piece of fruit he was eating. He managed to swallow it half-chewed despite nearly choking, “Why does everyone think that!” 

“The whole fangs thing.” Huntara said. “Don’t you have vampires in space?” 

“We have vampire-themed media.” 

“Yeah. Fangs. Vampires. Blood drinking.” 

Hordak sighed, but Entrapta spoke up behind him, “Hordak’s species -does- eat meat, but it’s fruit mostly. Some species that survive on fruit a lot have blade-like teeth that can cut apart harder fruits. Hordak’s teeth serve a dual function-“ her hair came forward and suddenly opened up Hordak’s mouth, drawing a confused grunt from him, “The bottoms are pointy to rend meat-“ As she said this her hair pointed to the point of his fangs- “The backs of the fangs are like blades, to cut through fruit-“ her hair brushed against the back of his fangs, “And the back teeth, well, they work like ours do so-“ she let go of his jaw and then let her hair caress his cheek before moving off, “I like his fangs!” 

“...So, no blood, no. In fact, I dislike undercooked meat.” He said. 

“I see.” Huntara said, “So, you have wings. Fangs. Big ears with good hearing. Night vision. You eat fruit. Are you a space-fruit-bat?”

Before Hordak could respond Entrapta ran a strand of hair over his head, “Yup! He’s my space bat!” She said happily. 

Hordak sighed, and ate his fruit instead of responding. 

It occurred to him later that he had gotten through all that without getting flustered. 

===========

It was a long walk through the desert to get back to their transport, but a far more relaxing one in Hordak’s mind. The hot sun seemed to relax his muscles, and when they stopped to rest a little further into the afternoon Hordak finally got a chance to unstrap his wings and let them stretch in the heat. THey followed Huntara carefully and managed to stay out of trouble. 

The only thing that might have detracted from his relaxation was Perfuma’s complaining, but after a bit he suggested she just ride on the makeshift transport that was carrying the supplies they had scavenged. 

“You know, Red.” Huntara said to Scorpia, “Just for you, I’ll see if I can get some friends together for this little operation you’re trying to pull off. Maybe, I’ll pay a visit to Bright Moon.” 

“That would be great!” Adora said, her eyes shining as she suddenly drew Huntara’s attention, “We could use your help. Why don’t you come visit now!?” 

Hordak turned, looked at two former Force Captains and Huntara, and shook his head before he looked to Entrapta. 

“Good news.” He muttered, softly enough that others couldn’t hear, “I don’t think I’m the most naive one around here anymore.” 

“Well, maybe not with other people.” 

“Excuse you.” Hordak said, indignant, “What do you mean-“ He cut himself off as his ears twitched. He held a hand up and signaled for everyone to stop. 

“What is it, Sir.” Scorpia said quietly. 

“It’s not-... Arg. Nevermind. Our ship is right over that hill, correct?”

“Yeah, I brought you a different way around to avoid the bar. Why?”

Hordak’s ears twitched as he listened carefully, “The Horde is there, near our ship.” He said, “And I think I hear Catra.” 

Scorpia nearly rushed past him but he reached out and caught her by the arm. “No!” He snapped, pulling her back, “If they see us…” 

“But they’re doing the diplomacy thing, right?” She said, “They don’t need to know what we’re doing.”

“They also don’t need to know that we lifted a bunch of Fright Zone refugees from under Prime’s nose!” 

“You could say that I just turned up at Bright Moon?” Scorpia suggested. 

“Problem with that.” Entrapta said, “I don’t have enough data on Huntara to make a guess, but the rest of you are terrible liars.” 

“Well, Hordak can do the talking then, right?” Adora said. 

“All of you. Hordak included.” She turned to Hordak, ”Do you think they’re other clones.” 

“Unsure.” He said, “We’ll have to get closer.” 

“Wait.” Adora said, confused, “Why is Hordak a bad-.... ooooh.” Her eyes flicked to his ears, “Right. The ear thing.” 

“The ear thing?” Huntara asked as she lifted a single brow.

“Uh, the clones-“ 

“Chilacians.” Entrapta interjected. 

“-In their language they speak with their ears. Sorta. The ears wiggle.” She pointed to Hordak, “If he lies, they’ll be able to tell.” 

Huntara muttered a curse that Hordak was not familiar with. He figured it was probably a Crimson Wastes thing. 

“Let’s see what we’re dealing with, and then we can make a plan.” Hordak said. He turned to them. “Keep very quiet,” He said, “and stay out of sight.” He nodded to Huntara, “Lead on.” 

Huntara led them further along the bottom of the sand mound until they came to an outcropping of rock surrounded by Cacti. She led them up the side of the mound and when they got near the top she crouched down, and keeping low to the ground was able to look around the rock and see their ship without being easily seen herself. Hordak came up behind her and looked out from the other side. 

Five clones stood on guard and at attention, and leaning against their transport with her arms crossed, flanked by two normal Horde Soldiers, was Catra. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	76. Rage

They ducked back behind the rocks, keeping very quiet. 

“Well.” Hordak whispered after a moment, “This is less than ideal.”

“Why are they here.” Adora whispered, “There’s nothing out here.” 

“This might be very bad.” Huntara said, “If Prime came out to find people who ran from the Fright Zone…” 

“If that’s why they were here, they wouldn’t be by the transport.” Hordak said. He heard something over the mound, and gestured for the others to be quiet while they listened. 

“Catra-“ One for the non-clone soldiers grumbled, “Why are we waiting here? They could be days. They might never come back. Maybe they died out here.” 

“Good for them.” Catra hissed, “Prime doesn’t give a shit about that. I told him about that ship, and he wants the ship. So, Prime -“ 

“Lord Prime.” One of the clones said in their monotone voice, “You will refer to him as Lord Prime.” 

“Right.” Catra said, her voice suddenly taking on a frightened tone, “Right. Lord Prime. If Lord Prime wants that old ship, Lord Prime get’s that old ship.” 

“So why are we at this ship!” The soldier said, “Why are we waiting? The sooner we get Mara’s ship, the sooner we leave.” 

“Because I had a guide when I came here the first time.” Catra said. “Several, in fact. And they’re… not around anymore. So I need a guide, and this Huntara is the best one to get us there without us dying. But she apparently took the hordak and the princesses to it first. So, I need to find out where Huntara is, and I have to make sure they didn’t take Prime’s stuff. Again.” 

“Yeah... Yeah I suppose it wouldn’t be good for you if they managed to do that again.” The non-clone soldier said, “Lord Prime was kinda pissed at you when they took that ship.” 

The sound of a sudden slap echoed through the desert, and Hordak heard pained gasp of the soldier. 

“You want worse?” Catra hissed, “You think it’s funny?”

Silence. After a moment, he heard Catra speak again, “If I get punished for this, you’ll get punished. Don’t worry. I won’t let you feel left out.” 

Hordak gestured for the others to move further back down the mound. When they were further away he spoke again. 

“Alright.” He said as he pinched the bridge of his nose, “The good news is there not here for us, they’re here for that ship.” He gestured to their makeshift transport, “But if they see this, they’ll want to take it.” 

“Well, they can have the ship now.” Entrapta said, “I think we got everything we need. But why would he want the ship.” 

“No idea.” Hordak said, “Maybe he suspects something about this planet - like I said before. The ship would provide him with some information.” 

“Ok… If they want the ship, why are they waiting at your transport.” Huntara asked. Hordak turned to her. 

“They’re actually waiting for you.” He said, “Someone apparently told them you took us to the ship.” 

“Oh. Is that all.” She smirked, “And you need them away from your transport?” 

“Yes.” 

“And you’re sure they’re not here for you.” 

“I am positive. Horde Prime doesn’t care about… about us.” 

“Right. Well.” Huntara stood up and stretched, “I got this then. You guys stay here, and keep quiet. Hordak, you have the best hearing, so you go back up to that outcropping and listen. When I get them away, then get all your shit to the transport.” 

“You’re going to draw them away?” 

“With lies and stories, yes.” She grinned and started walking around the mound, clearly to approach from another angle. Hordak waited until she was out of sight, then made his way back to the mound of rocks. He sat with his back to the rocks, his ears twitching as he listened to the people at their transport. 

“I still don’t get why Horde Prime wants this thing.” The soldier said, “I mean, you said it’s just some ancient ship, right? We have better stuff in the Fright Zone. Prim- Lord Prime’s got better stuff in his ships.” 

“I know.” Catra said, “But we were going over a map of Etheria, and he wanted to know what was in the Crimson Wastes. I told him there was nothing really here, and that I only came out here because Entrapta and the hordak wanted some first ones tech.” 

Hordak bit down on his lower lip. No. She was here because Entrapta wanted him to spare her. Entrapta did want the tech, but she also didn’t want Catra sent to Beast Island. A part of him imagined what might have happened if he had sent her to Beast Island anyway. Gone. No more Catra. No sword, no portal, Entrapta wouldn’t have been tased and sent to Beast Island herself. 

A spark of rage hit Hordak deep in his chest, growing stronger. Entrapta saved Catra from Beast Island, and Catra went ahead and sent her here to die! How dare she! 

“Prime- Lord Prime, sorry,” Catra continued, “Seemed interested when I said there was a ship. Said he wanted it. So here we are getting it. You want to question him, you be my guest.” 

“Hey there!” Hordak finally heard Huntara call out over the sand. The chatter stopped. Hordak desperately wanted to peek around the rocks but didn’t want to risk being spotted. He could just listen, that was fine.” 

“Well well well.” Catra said, “Huntara. Nice to see you again.” 

“Unexpected to see you again.” Huntara said, “What are you doing back here? I thought you went home.” 

“Yeah, but I left something behind. Big old ship with old first ones tech in it. I’m sure you’ve seen it.” 

“Oh, that. Yeah. You want to go back to it?” 

“Didn’t you just come from it?” Catra asked, “I heard at the bar that you took the princesses and their pet to the ship.” 

“Pet?” 

“Yeah. Big tall thing. Goes by Hordak. Maybe you’ve heard of him.” 

“Oh. Yeah.” She chuckled, “Man, he’s really lost it, hasn’t he. Chumming around with the princesses like that.” 

“So are they still at the ship?” 

“Never got to the ship.” Huntara said. “None of the princesses have any discipline, or patience. Entrapta saw something shiny and went after it, then Hordak went after her, then the others chased after them even though I told them not to.”Hordak heard Huntara give an irritated sigh, “Then I lost them. But they paid me in advance, so I figured I’d see if they made it back to their ship so we could try again, if they want to not be idiots for a bit.” 

“Well then.” Catra said, “How about instead of that, you bring us to the ship. It’ll be easier I’m sure, since we have ships that can take this environment. Not like this piece of junk.” He heard something hit the transport. 

“What’s the pay for that job then.” Huntara asked. 

“The pay,” one of the clones said, “Is doing your duty to the ruler of the Galaxy, Horde Prime.” 

“Look, you bring us to the ship, and I’m sure Lord Prime will be very grateful.” Catra said

“Hey, look, I know a good deal when I see one.” Huntara said, “I know power when I see it too. Yeah, I’ll take you to that old wreck, Where’s your ship. 

“We landed near the bar.” 

“Alright. Let’s head back and I’ll direct you where you need to go.” 

“Hey, Catra.” One of the soldiers said, “If you’re going off with her, maybe we could stay here. You know. In case they come back.” 

“Nah.” Catra said. “Huntara said that they didn’t even make it to the ship. And she wouldn’t be lying. At least, for her sake, I hope she wouldn’t be lying.” 

“And can you give me one good reason why I would cover for Hordick?” 

Hordick? HORDICK? Was that the nickname that they gave him in the Crimson Wastes? Had he been referred to all this time as “Hordick?” Furthermore, why were Etherians so obsessed with calling people various forms of genitalia. 

Etherians were strange. 

He heard Catra chuckle, “Fair enough.” She said. “So yeah, you don’t get to hang out by this. You’re coming to the ship with me- we’ll have more problems there and even if the hordak did survive and they make it back here, it’s not like Lord Prime cares.” 

Hordak listened to them walk away, and when they could only scarcely hear them over another mound of sand, he peeked out from behind the rocks. 

They were gone, leaving their transport behind. He waved the others up. Entrapta led the transport uphill and they guided it down. 

“Let’s get this all packed up and get out of here.” Hordak said once their makeshift transport was in place. He picked up some heavier equipment and started bringing it to their transport. “We’ll have to hide this. Just in case they come back for whatever reason.” Hordak nodded to the makeshift transport they had made, “Don’t want them to think we had something to transport.” 

“Yeah.” Scorpia said, “I mean.” She turned to Perfuma, “Hey, can’t you do something? Pull the transport down into the sand or-“ She stopped as she stepped on something she looked down and saw the headpiece that Catra normally wore. 

“Oh.” She said. 

“.... would she come back for that?” Hordak asked

“Yup.” Scorpia said. Hordak frowned and hurried to put the scraps into the ship.

“Alright.” Hordak said, “Hurry up. Get this on the transport as quickly as possible.” He looked to the materials, then to the hills around them. He needed a way to keep an eye out while they worked. 

“Hordak?” Entrapta asked as she started quickly moving things with her hair, “You keep an ear out, I’ll handle this.” 

Hordak couldn’t help the smile and came over his face. How did Entrapta always manage to know what he was thinking. Well, of course they were both intelligent, and would have been following the same, logical train of through. He let her take what was in his arms with her hair, then moved away from the others and listened carefully. 

They were only about half done when he heard people talking from over the mound.” 

“I really don’t need you watching me.” He heard Catra say. “What, it’s not like I’m going to run off with this on. Besides, I -like- working for Pri- for Lord Prime.” 

“The wastes may not be safe” One of the clones said. “It is wisest if I accompany you.” 

“We’ve been by the ship for hours and nothing happened, I’m just grabbing my headpiece and heading back.” 

Hordak turned to the others, and motioned for them to stop. If they were much louder then the clone might hear and investigate. 

“Very well, I will await your return at this ‘bar’” 

“Good. I’ll be right back.” 

“Ok.” Hordak hissed, “Catra is coming back for that thing. Now.”

“What do we do!” Adora said, “She’s gonna see all this-“ 

“Let’s take her with us.” Scorpia said, “We can-

“We are not taking her with us.” Hordak said. 

“I got an idea!” Bow said. He turned to Perfuma, “Think you can use your magic to stop her? Create a cave-in or something? Shift some plants around?” 

“I.. uh-“ 

“You do that, and we’ll finish this up.” He said. 

Perfuma looked absolutely terrified for a moment, tried to say something, then nodded. She rushed off, but while she was passing Hordak she grabbed him by the arm and pulled him after her. 

“Hey, what-“ 

“Entrapta, I’m borrowing Hordak!” She said as she pulled him away. 

“What are you doing?” Hordak said as he allowed her to pull him along. 

“Tell me about the Cacti.” She said. 

“What?” 

“The Cacti. On other planets. Tell me about how they grow.” 

“Uh..” What was she doing? “They get really big?” Hordak said, confused as to what she wanted. He closed his eyes and tried to envision the cacti on this one planet that he had really liked. It had been so warm, the air had been so perfect, “They can grow like giant buildings.” He said, “Far bigger than Bright Moon.” 

“And they have flowers?” 

“Oh yes.” Hordak said, “In fact, the flowers of some of the cacti I’ve seen in space are far more vibrant than anything you’ve seen on Etheria. Most of them have ultraviolet patterns on them, so they stand out in the right kind of light. Some of the glow. In fact, there’s one specific kind of flower that, before it properly blooms it’s bud is so bright that the whole plant can illuminate the area like it’s daytime, but they glow purple, so everything is washed in purple light.” He frowned, trying to think what else he could say, “They get so big, even when they die the roots are used to build communities, and -“ 

“Wait.” Perfuma said as she looked at him, “Roots?” 

“Yes?” He said, confused, “They have roots? When this specific cacti dies, it falls over and the roots drag up rocks and soil and minerals and -“ 

“I got this!” She said. She knelt down, and put her hands on the ground. 

Before Hordak could ask what exactly she had, he felt the ground rumble under him. It was so unexpected that it nearly caused him to stumble back but he caught himself before he did. The ground seemed to shift under his feet, and he heard something in the distance, like a great deal of sand suddenly shifting, and a long, pitched scream. 

“That was Catra!” Scorpia said. She dropped the scraps she was carrying and started to run towards the scream. Hordak cursed and rushed ahead of her. Hurt or not, Catra could still cause them problems. 

On the other side of one of the sand mounds, a giant sink-hole had opened up. The sand had been drawn into the center, and down in the very center, half buried by sand, was Catra. She wasn’t moving. He watched her for a few moments, and could faintly see the steady rise and fall of her chest. 

She was still breathing. 

Hordak rushed towards the unconscious Catra, the rage building up in him. Last time he had seen her, he had been under the influence of the Perma Frost, which allowed him to keep his cool. He had had no idea how enraged he actually was until now. She had tazed his mate! She had taken Entrapta away from him! She had nearly cost him everything that mattered!

He slowed as he approached, his eyes narrowed, his ears pinned back. Catra had ruined everything. 

“Sir! SIR!” He could hear Scorpia rushing towards him, “We have to take her with us!” 

Hordak turned on his heel, his wings straining against his straps as he pointed to the unconscious Catra laying on the ground, “You want to take her!” He snapped, “You want to try to SAVE Her!? After everything she’s done to me, to you, you want to SAVE HER?!!”

The others were still well behind, but they were rushing to catch up. 

“Please sir.” Scorpia said, “Yes… Yes I want to help her! She doesn’t deserve-“ 

“She deserves EVERYTHING she’s getting.” He hissed, taking a step towards his former force captain. “And more. She deserves everything Prime does to her.” 

Scorpia had this look on her face. A heartbreakingly sad face. “Please.” 

Hordak growled in disgust and stalked towards Catra. “We can’t take her anyway.” He said, “It’s too big of a risk. If she escapes from the ‘prisons at Bright Moon’, or if DH sees her there, or if she has a tracker implanted in her somewhere…” He realized that likely the tracker on her would be on the collar. No point in implanting a tracker when a loyal soldier was already wearing one, right?

He knelt down next to Catra and caught her by the neck in his strong claws. 

“Sir! Sir please! No!” Scorpia ran towards him, but he was too fast. He squeezed, and there was a horrible cracking noise. Scorpia stopped in her tracks, her claws up to her face as she stared on in horror. 

Hordak stood up, letting the shattered remains of the collar that had been around Catra’s neck fall to the ground. “There.” He spat as he strode past Scorpia and towards the others, “We’re not taking her. But I gave her a choice. Given everything, I think that’s more than generous.” 

“...sir?” 

“I broke the collar. It would have given her a nice shock while I was doing it. Unfortunately she was unconscious so she didn’t feel it.” He sneered back at Catra, then continued on. Entrapta was rushing towards them on her hair. “She can disappear into the wastes, or she can crawl back to Horde Prime. I don’t care. You shouldn’t either.” 

“... Thank you, Sir.” 

He stopped and turned back to her, nearly shaking with rage, “If she ever, EVER puts Entrapta at risk again, I will rend her from limb to limb.” 

“....I understand.” 

  
  



	77. The Experiment

When they got back to Bright Moon they started to unload the transport. The new supplies would be brought to a bigger room close to Hordak and Entrapta’s bedroom where they would have more space to work on weaponry. 

“It’s too bad Huntara couldn’t come back with us.” Adora said, “Maybe we could head back to find her later on.” 

“Yeah.. I .. she was nice.” Scorpia said. Hordak was very glad to hear Scorpia say anything - She had been very quiet on the trip back to Bright Moon. 

“It might be good to formalize plans with Huntara.” Hordak said, making up a plan in his head right in the moment, “Potentially there’s other resources in the Crimson Wastes - people and supplies - that we could utilize against Horde Prime.” In truth, he didn’t necessarily know if there was any value in pursuing anything else in the Wastes, but Huntara had distracted Scorpia from Catra, so if Huntara being around Scorpia made Scorpia happier, he wanted to make that happen. 

He wished he could just take Catra from Scorpia’s mind. Scorpia had done so much for him, and helped so much. She deserved so much better than Catra. 

“We’ll head back in a few days!” Adora said, excited. “We’ll only be heading to the bar, so we won’t need to bring a lot of people. It’ll be relatively safe.” 

Hordak nodded. He’d convince Adora to take Scorpia at least. “Once we’re organized, I’ll go update Queen Glimmer.” Hordak said as he lifted a particularly heavy piece of machinery.

“Queen Glimmer isn’t here.” One of the nearby guards said. Hordak stopped in place and turned to the guard. 

“Pardon?” 

“Queen Glimmer had to go to Mystacor. She took Mermista, Frosta, Spinerella and Netossa, and Shadow Weaver.” 

Hordak was about to ask why, but then he figured it had something to do with the messenger that had been sent the other day. The politics of Mystacor and Bright Moon were not his expertise. 

And honestly, he had more important things to worry about. Their absence provided him with an opportunity. 

“Very well.” He said, “Do you know when they’ll be back?”

“We are unsure. We expect them back any day now.” 

“Good.” Hordak said. He’d have to act fast, but there was time for an experiment. 

========

“We got so much stuff!” Entrapta squealed once they were alone in their new lab. Piles and piles of old First ones tech was spread out across the floor, roughly organized by Entrapta’s esoteric planning system. “I have so many ideas!” She gasped and turned to Hordak with her eyes glistening, “So many plans! Oh, is Prime afraid of anything? I’ll make a nightmare bot just for him.” 

“Nightmare bot?” Hordak asked, his ears twitching in confusion. 

“Yes!! Something that looks like the worst possible version of something he hates.” 

“I’m positive that there’s things he hates, but as to if that hate comes from a place of fear or not I couldn’t say.” Hordak went over to the desk she had her plans on. Well, ‘plans’ was a bit of a stretch. As of now there were only some scribbled pictures of potential bots. 

“Oooh, I can’t wait to get started!”

“I need to speak to DH before we start too many different types of bots.” Hordak said, “Finalize some plans, make sure that my plan will work. We don’t know what we’ll need yet, but I think that improving Bright Moon’s defensive capabilities will be the best option for now. “

Entrapta gasped and raced to the other side of the room, pulling apart some pieces of tech, “Oh, I have an idea!” She said. “I have several ideas! What if I made a bunch of tiny bots that created their own forcefield! They could move around and improve the strength of the force field in places where it’s needed, and -“ 

“Before any of that.” Hordak said slowly, not looking up from her plans, “There’s a different experiment I want to do.” 

“Oh?” Entrapta turned to look at Hordak, “Oooh, a new experiment! What kind of experiment? Does it have to do with your wings? The straps-“ 

“No.. no no. Oh!” He turned to Entrpata, his ears flushed, “These straps. The… Uh, original purpose.” 

Entrapta stopped in mid-air, her face flushed. “Oh…” 

“Did you.. Did you really make me this ‘bondage’ gear?”

“Well. I mean. Yes? You liked it! I thought you knew what it was! And I didn’t intend for your new wing straps to look like that I promise!” She came up to him, her hair wrapping around him, “I’d never want to embarrass you like that, I just thought it’d be useful to use those straps to keep your wings down.” 

Hordak pinched the bridge of his nose, “I’m a little more surprised that there’s an actual name for all that.” He said, his ears flicked down and blue, “What is it about these straps that gives off that impression.” 

Entrapta considered this for a moment, then said, “Probably because they’re black straps? I’m going to dye them to match the color of your wings when you take it off for the day.” She looked up at him, “I really -really- didn’t mean to embarrass you, Hordak, I-“ 

“I know.” Hordak said, “It’s not a big problem.” 

Entrapta hugged him, pressing her face into his chest. He wrapped his arms and wings around her, holding her tight. 

“I know…” Hordak felt his ear flick, “I know.. you’d never do anything to hurt me, Entrapta.” Well, he knew that now. He should have known that sooner. He wished that he had known that back before Prime arrived with the certainty he had now.

“Oh! Hordak! Your experiment!” She looked up at him, “How did I almost forget about your experiment!” 

Hordak frowned as he released Entrapta. He went to a pile of equipment he had brought up from the lab ship, found a metal box that looked like it was folded in on itself many many times, and brought it over to Entrapta’s table. 

“What’s this?” She asked. 

“STPD.” Hordak said simply, “Simple Terrestrial Portal Device. It’s generally used just to facilitate transportation over a planet, not off planet.” He turned to Entrapta, “Basically. It’s what you thought of when I first mentioned portals.” 

Entrapta was at the device in a moment, “It’s so small!” She said as she stroked the strange alien metal. 

“Yes, well, it gets bigger.” 

Entrapta looked at it, then looked up at Hordak, “But… This won’t work, will it?” She frowned, “ I mean, wouldn’t the dangers that came from opening the portal in the first place be inherent here? You know, the whole destroying reality thing?” 

Hordak nodded, “Yes. If we opened a portal.” 

“... you don’t want to open a portal with this?” Entrapta asked. 

“Not quite.” Hordak said. “Let’s consider a portal like a hallway connecting two rooms. When we open a portal properly, we open both doors and go through the hallway. This completes the portal and allows movement. However…” Hordak took a step towards the device, “However… I don’t want to open the other door this time.” 

“What do you want to do.” 

“I want to go into the hallway, so to speak.” He turned to look at Entrapta, “Do you recall what Queen Glimmer said when we were heading to Mystacor?” 

“Uh... She said a lot of things.”

“She said that nobody knew if Queen Angella was actually dead.” He said. “And she’s right. From what I understand, she simply got caught in the hallway. If we can open a door, we can get her out.” 

“But… she’s been in there for a while.” Entrapta said, “I know she’s supposed to be immortal, but-“ 

“And if she has died in there, then it’s closure at least.” 

“... isn’t it dangerous?”

“It could be.” Hordak said, “But not as dangerous as opening a proper portal.” He sighed, “The biggest problem here would be if the portal is closed while I’m inside-“ 

“Wait.” Entrapta said, “You’re going into the portal?”

Hordak nodded, “If she’s still there, then Angella will be highly disoriented. If we open a portal for her, it’s unlikely that she’d be able to find her way out.” 

“But why do you have to go!” Entrapta said, “I could make a bot, and send that in-“ 

“A bot isn’t going to manage well in a portal. When we send bots through a portal, they’re deactivated.” Hordak said, “The space between is…” He stopped. How did he explain this? “Non-euclidean? The bots would malfunction.” He looked at Entrapta, “And you’ve never travelled via portal before, so you’d get disoriented, and potentially get lost. I’ve been travelling through portals for half my life. I haven’t necessarily spent much time in the space between, but I’m less likely to get disoriented.”

“... Hordak?” 

“Entrapta.” 

“I know you probably feel bad. About, you know, Glimmer and her mother.” Entrapta’s voice got very quiet, “But… This wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know.” 

“I know.” 

“And… Is trying to get Angela back worth the risk?” 

“I believe we can create a relatively stable doorway. Most likely the fact that Etheria is closed off and portals won’t open makes this safer. The main issue I could see is keeping the portal closed on the other side. That’s not an issue at the moment.”

“And if the portal collapses?”

“Reopen it. As I said, I’m less likely to be disoriented, and I could find my way out if I get stuck.” He frowned, “If I had gotten stuck in there instead of Angella, All you’d need to do is open it, and I could get out. Possibly.” He frowned, “To be fair, the amount of time she’s been in there.. I’d probably get relatively disoriented as well. But for a short period of time? I can manage it.” 

Entrapta gave a frustrated groan, “Ugh, I want to do this! This sounds like an amazing experiment! The data I could get from the readings! And if we do it, If we get Angella back, then that’ll help solidify your reputation for the rest of Etheria. But…” She looked up at him, “I don’t want to risk losing you.” 

“If we can open the portal and keep it stable, then there’s minimal risk.” He looked from Entrapta to the device and then back to Entrapta, “And if we can’t, then I won’t do it.” He felt Entrapta’s hair wrap around him protectively. He ran his fingers through the strands of her strong hair. “I just want to see if I can do it.” 

“Well… Maybe we could ask Glimmer to help?” She asked, “Send you in with guards or something? I just don't want you in there alone.” 

Hordak shook his head, “No, the reason I want to do this now is because Glimmer is gone. I don’t want her involved in this.”

“Why not?” 

“It’s stupid.” Hordak said, glancing away from her, “I don’t want to get her hopes up. I don’t want her to think there’s a chance to get her back, and then it doesn’t work, or it does work and we only find a body. I don’t want to go to Glimmer with possibilities, just results.” 

“... Bow.”

“What?” 

“Let’s get Bow to help!” She said, “I mean, if you do go in, and you find her, there’s no reason she’d come back with you, right?” Her hair fizzed up, “If you go with Bow, then she’ll be more likely to come back, right?” 

But still. 

“The more people who go into the portal, the harder this will be.” He admitted, “I have no doubt I can navigate. And if I must, I’ll drag Angella out, I might have a harder time keeping track of Angela and Bow.” 

“I don’t like this.” Entrapta said. 

“It is by no means a particularly dangerous mission for me, so long as the portal opening is stable on our end.” 

Entrapta’s hair twisted about her and puffed out as she groaned again. She turned to Hordak, and pointed at him with her hair, her hands in fists on her hips, “We stabilize the portal, AND I find a way to stay in communication with you while you’re in there. I won’t do it otherwise.” 

Hordak nodded, “that’s perfectly fair.” He said. He had no doubt that they could manage that, and to be honest he’d feel a lot more comfortable if he could hear Entrapta while he was in the space between portals. 


	78. The Space Between

Having possession of a working portal device made their task so much easier. Hordak didn’t need to worry about trying to stabilize the damn thing, and the necessary programming was something that Hordak had basically memorized at this point. They only used some First One’s tech to help give the device extra power so that it would be more stable. It took Hordak and Entrapta only a few hours to set it up, then another hour to tinker with the communications so that they’d supposedly have a signal when Hordak entered the portal and was in The Space Between.

“Ok.” Entrapta said as she closed up the case on the advanced communicator she put together, “This is mostly good to go. I have one more small thing to do.” She zoomed up to Hordak, kissed him on the cheek, and then went to the door. 

“Where are you going.” 

“I need a metal piece in our room.” She said, “I’ll be right back.” 

When she was gone, Hordak sat down heavily on the stool at his work desk. In a moment Imp was on his lap, looking up at him with concern. 

“I am positive this is safe.” He said at Imp’s reproachful stare, “You just weren’t around when I was popping through portals. I’ve done this more times than I can remember, and I assure you, any danger that I might encounter won’t come from the portal itself. “ 

Imp tilted his head, giving Hordak an irritated glare. 

“As I said, the portal should be stable so long as we don’t open it at the other end, and if it’s not stable we’ll know long before I have any opportunity to enter it. Entrapta ran many tests, and as far as she can see we shouldn’t have a reality destroying singularity come up from just opening up into The Space Between.” 

In reality, the biggest danger was Angella herself. How long had she been in the portal? How was her magic working? Hordak had a vague understanding that the Princesses powers were linked to their runestones, but he didn’t know how it worked with Glimmer and Angella, or if Angella could properly use her powers in The Space Between. If she could, then he might expect a fight if she was physically able, and if he couldn’t convince her that he was actually there to help. 

Of course, if he couldn’t convince her, he’d have to subdue her long enough to drag her out. Could he do that without actually injuring her? He set his hand on the small taser on the table. He didn’t like the idea of tazing Glimmer’s mother to drag her out of the portal, but if he had to then at least tazing her would have few long term effects. It was a safer way of pacifying her until he got her out. 

Aside from that, the only big problem was the portal being closed from their side. If it closed, he was still sure he could get back out when it reopened and he was positive that Entrapta would open it up faster than any other person in the universe. The biggest problem there was one of time- or at least it’s perception. Time didn’t necessarily exist in The Space Between; five minutes could pass like a snap of the fingers or drag like an eternity depending on his mindset. At least that was something he could control. 

Imp screeched at him, and held into the front of Hordak’s dress. Hordak gave him a quick smile and gently scratched the back of his neck, “You can’t come.” He said, “You’ll get too disoriented.” 

The door opened and Entrapta barrelled back in with an armful of metal scrap, followed by Bow who was carrying a box. 

“I bumped into Bow on the way.” She said, “He offered to help me carry boxes, and he’s gonna help us with Operation Save Glimmer’s Mom. 

“Entrapta..” Hordak said with a sigh, “Bow can’t go in. Like I said-“ 

“I know, I know, disorientation, danger, non-euclidean realities. I want to go in when we’re not trying to do something, by the way. When this is all over. BUT! He can still help.” She grabbed the communicator with one strand of hair, and dug a small metal band out of the box with another. She welded the communicator to a metal band, then grabbed Hordak with her hair. She put the band around his wrist and used a tiny soldering tool to connect it. 

“What’s this?” 

“Your communicator.” Entrapta said, “You’re not dropping it when you get in there. I refuse to lose contact with you for any reason. If you drop out of communication with me, you come right back.” She finished her work on his new bracelet and her hair came up around Hordak’s shoulders and pulled his head down to her height. “Understood?” 

“U-understood.” Hordak said, taken aback by the force in her voice. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Bow trying to hide a grin. With his ears flicked back, he stood upright, “So why is Bow here?” 

“To tell Queen Angella that you’re safe.” Entrapta said. “When you find her, tell her you have contact with Bow. She apparently thought well of Bow, and she should listen to him. She can probably ask him something, kinda a ‘Tell me something that only the real Bow would know’ deal.” 

“Honestly, it’s all embarrassing stuff about Glimmer when she was an infant.” Bow said, “But it’s nothing that The Horde would have any reason to know.” 

Hordak nodded, frowning. “Very well.” He said. In truth, it was a good idea. He just didn’t want more people than absolutely necessary to view his failure if this didn’t work. For some reason the idea of getting anyone’s hopes up on this and then failing made him feel almost sick to his stomach. 

“And.. You’re sure this won’t undo reality?” Bow asked. 

“99.97% positive.” Entrapta said, “I’ve calculated a few very unlikely situations that could potentially cause an issue, but most of them involve Horde Prime trying to open the same portal at the same time. And even then it wouldn’t be our portal that would cause it, it would be prime’s and ours would just meld into it. Otherwise, any other issues would arise from intense external dimensional interference. 

“And if that happens we have far bigger issues.” Hordak said. 

Bow nodded, looking at the small metal box with a healthy level of fear, “Alright.” He finally said, “I.. If we can bring her back, I want to do it. For Glimmer.” 

“And if it fails.” Hordak said, “We don’t tell her anything. Understood?” 

“Understood.” Bow said. He frowned, at the box, then looked up at Hordak, ”It’s… It’s nice of you to try though.” Bow said. “Even if it doesn't work, I think you should tell Glimmer you tried.” 

“It doesn’t mean anything if it doesn’t work.” Hordak said. 

Hordak took a deep breath as he walked up to the portal device to set it up. His hands were shaking as he worked. He took another deep breath and tried to steady his nerves. 

Failure wasn’t as big of a deal as he had felt before Entrapta. He knew that. But regardless the idea that he might fail at this filled him with a dread that he didn’t understand. 

He unlocked the case, pressed the right code, and stepped back. There was a great whirring as the box seemed to unfold over and over, thin pieces of metal arching up in a circle that nearly touch the ceiling. It drew on the power from the first ones tech that they had set up, and their primary Bright Moon Power supply. There was a hum, a spark, and the portal opened- a swirling disk of white light that shivered in the air for a moment before seeming to takes its place in the middle of the room. 

Stable. 

“Are you sure you want to do this.” Entrapta asked. 

Hordak felt his heart swell. He knew that while she was worried about him, she was also looking forward to all the data. He knew that she was dying to get more data now that the portal was open and stable and yet, here she was asking him if he was sure. Giving him an out if he needed it. Willing to give up the collection of Data that very few people in the galaxy would have a chance to see, and she was risking it not just to keep him safe, but to make sure he wasn’t uncomfortable. 

Hordak took a deep breath, and nodded. “I’m sure.” He said. At this point he felt he loved ENtrapta so much that if there was even a bit of doubt that this might be truly dangerous, he’d give up just to keep her from worrying. “It’s no more dangerous than you zipping through the ventilation shafts in the Fright Zone.” 

Entrapta considered this for a moment, then nodded. She grabbed him with her hair once more, turned him around, and kissed him deeply on the lips. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Bow turn away to give them a moment of privacy. Hordak returned the kiss, taking in the feel of her skin, the touch of her hair, her scent, just in case these were things he’d need to draw on when he was in The Space Between. 

Before they parted, he felt something get pressed into his hands. He looked down, and saw that Entrapta had taken the thin tank top she had been given for sleeping in, and put it in his hands. 

“Just in case.” She said, smiling at him. 

Hordak leaned down and kissed her again. “Thank you” he whispered into her ear, “I love you.” 

“I love you too.” 

They parted. Bow cleared his throat as he turned back to them. “We’re all ready then?” 

Hordak tucked the tank top into one of the hidden pockets on his dress and turned to face the portal. “Ready.” 

“Remember.” Entrapta said as she took her place behind a computer console that was giving them readings, “If the communicator doesn’t work, you come RIGHT back out.” 

“I will.” 

“Promise me, Hordak.” Entrapta said, “Don’t do anything stupid.” 

“I won’t.” He said. “I promise.” 

Entrapta gave him a hard look, then nodded and went to the screen, “Ok. All the readings seem stable. Go ahead, Hordak.”

Hordak nodded, and approached the portal. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and stepped through. 

=============

It’s a road. Hordak thought to himself as he stepped through. A long, straight road. It’s nothing but a hallway. A big, white hallway. He set his foot as confidently as he could on the other side of the portal. He felt the familiar chill as he transversed the dimensional barriers, and then to his great relief he felt his foot hit something solid. 

“Hordak! Hordak! Are you ok?” He heard Entrapta’s voice come over the communicator, accompanied by the constant tick tick tick of a metronome she had set up on the other side - a little something to help keep him grounded in Etherian Time. 

Hordak held his wrist up to his mouth, “Perfectly.” He said. “Everything seems to be working alright” 

“What does it look like?” He heard Bow ask. 

“No idea yet.” He said, “Give me a few minutes to place myself.” 

The biggest problem of being in The Space Between was how it could shift and change depending on perspective and precognition. If Hordak had to explain this to Glimmer, he'd say that it was a case of mind over matter. If you were certain you’d fall when you entered, then you most likely would. If you were certain, however, that the ground was solid, then it would be - mostly. 

If you expected monsters on the other side, then there was a chance they’d materialize depending on … Well, a lot of factors. If you let your mind wander too much, this place could absorb fears and insecurities, and provide renderings of fears, anxieties, or even strange symbols from the depths of the subconscious. 

The best thing to do was go in, expecting nothing and focusing on something simple. A white hallway was simple enough to envision, and didn’t require a lot of mental upkeep to keep it going. Hordak just wanted to ensure that he had a plain white hallway firmly in mind before he opened his eyes. 

A plain, wide expanse. Ok. Not quite the hallway he wanted, but in truth he knew far too much about portals to convince his mind in any way that it was just a hallway. Still, a wide expense was good, the ground felt solid beneath his feet, and there was nothing disgusting waiting for him on the other side. 

He looked around, and thought for a moment he saw something far, far away. he strained his eyes he could see off into the distance what seemed at first like a little dot. 

“Stabilized.” Hordak said, “I’m in, and safe. The Space Between has taken on the appearance of a plain, white void. I believe I see the target. 

“You see Angella?” He heard Bow say over his communicator, “Is she alive!?” 

“No idea.” Hordak said, “Let’s find out.” 

Hordak took three steps towards the dot in the distance, then on the fourth step he felt himself get pulled forward. He looked back to see the portal still in sight, then looked ahead again at the dot- only it wasn’t a dot now, it was clearly Angella, sitting down with her wings folded at her back and her arms around her legs. He could hear her muttering, but even with his good ears he couldn’t make out what she was saying. 

“You ok?” Entrapta asked over the communicator, “You kinda yelped there.” 

“Yes.” He said back, “Just some displacement. Common.” He had been focused on where he had wanted to go and because of that ended up much closer than four steps would have taken him. He took another breath, doing his best to keep himself more or less steady - displacement was dangerous and could lead a person to get lost. He looked behind him once more ensuring he could still see the portal, then turned back and kept walking. 

As he approached, Angella never looked up. He considered how long she might have been in here but realized that actual time didn’t matter. He had no way of knowing how long she thought she had been here. 

He wondered if she might have lost her grip on reality entirely by this point. It was possible. If she had been driven mad by being locked in The Space Between, was it still a good idea to bring her back?

He stopped when he was a few paces before her. She was still muttering and when he focused he could hear her saying over and over and over again, “I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry. I’m so sorry.” 

“I’m here.” He whispered into the communicator. He took a step towards her, and cleared his voice. “Queen Angella?” 

Her muttering stopped. She stared at her knees which were drawn up to her chest, then slowly looked up at Hordak. 

“Oh.” She said, almost as though she didn’t care, “It’s you this time.”


	79. Maddness

There was silence in the white void of The Space Between as Hordak and Angella stared each other down. “This time?” Hordak asked, his head tilted in confusion at the indifferent look she was giving him. “What do you mean this time?” 

“Oh, you know.” She said as she went back to staring at her knees, “Another hallucination. I thought it was real at first. Glimmer was the first. I was so scared that she was stuck in here, but then she was gone. It took a few more for me to realize I had gone mad.” She looked back up at Hordak, “Though, I didn’t expect you to look like that.” She hummed as she looked over him - even though he was healed up, he was still far smaller than he had appeared with his armor on 

“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised though. You looked more like that when I messed it all up.” 

Hordak frowned. This was not what he expected, ”I expected you to attack me.” He said, “Or run.” 

“I mean, I might have.” She said without looking up at him, “In the first...well, I don’t know how long it was. The first few dozen hallucinations. Perhaps it’s best to judge by how many there have been.. but I’ve lost track…” She seemed to trail off, and Hordak wondered if he should try to bring her back to the conversation just as she seemed to jolt herself back. “I did try to interact with the first bunch. Then I just got tired. I realized that none of them were real.” She pulled her knees closer to her chest. “So go ahead. Say your piece. Did you manage to take over? Is Etheria in ruins? My daughter is dead? My name is a curse?” 

“I… what? No?” Hordak frowned, almost wishing that she was attacking him. This deadpan voice as she listed off potential horrors for her was disconcerting. 

“Then what do you want.” 

“I…One moment. He turned around, and took a few steps away as he whispered into the communicator, “She’s not well.” He muttered. 

“We’re listening.” Entrapta said, “Are hallucinations common?” 

“Being trapped in The Space Between isn’t common in the first place.” He said, “But yes, prolonged exposure can create some unpleasant hallucinations, auditory, and visual. I’d not be surprised if other sensory hallucinations could come up after a truly extended period of time. Not that time has much meaning here.”

“Do you think you can get her to follow you?” Bow asked

“Well, she’s not attacking, so I have an opportunity to convince her. She also doesn't look very concerned about moving at all. Furthermore- she thinks I’m a hallucination.” He paused as he considered this, “I suppose it’s a good sign for her mental health that she recgonizes that she’s hallucinating.” 

“Alright.” Bow said, “Uh.. maybe let me speak to her? I don’t know if I can convince her, but I can try.” 

”He held out his wrist and turned the communicator volume up, “Bow, Tell her.” 

“Uuh… Hi? Queen Angella?” How’s voice came out unsure and clearly confused over the communicator. “It’s me, Bow?” 

“Is it now.” Was her lifeless response. 

“It is! You can ask me a question for proof or-“ 

“It doesn’t matter.” She said. 

“Uh….alright?” Bow said, clearly as surprised by her response as much as Hordak was, “We all miss you. Glimmer especially. She’s doing her best, she’s holding up, but she misses you! And we’re in trouble. We have a problem and… Look, this is going to sound strange, but we need you to go with Hordak.” 

“I have lost my mind.” She muttered. She looked up to Hordak, “Bow is telling me I need to go with the Lord of the Fright Zone. Go where? Another scene of Etheria on fire? An Etheria where Glimmer is a tyrant? Or-“ 

“No!” Hordak and Bow said. Hordak frowned at the communicator, “Just back to Bright Moon.” Hordak said. “Nothing is on fire.” Well, nothing was on fire yet. If Prime got his way, then things could be on fire. It all depended on how easily his conquest went, and how much he found out about Etheria. 

“You.” Angella looked up at Hordak, “You, of all people, are going to try to bring me out of this.” She shook her head, “Why would my mind try to trick me with that? At least the other hallucinations were realistic. The one of Micha…” She shuddered, and fell silent. 

“Do you want to go?” He asked. If she didn’t, he’d have to drag her. If she did, that made things easier.

“Of course.” She said, “But I’ve done this before. Every time someone comes to bring me ‘home’ they end up showing me ….” To Hordak’s surprise, she shuddered, “Awful things. Glimmer dead. Glimmer being a tyrant. One time she ended up being queen of the Horde? You weren’t there though. I think she killed you and took over in that one. Though there was the one where you took over entirely and made her your bride. Then there was the one where Micah was dead, but he was screaming at me for killing him. “

“None of that was real.” Hordak said, “That’s… This place plays on perception. The longer you’re here, the easier it is for you to lose track of reality.” He gestured around the vast expanse of white all around them, “Even this is better than the actual form of The Space Between. It’s nothingness, and when the mind is deprived of stimuli, it’ll make up stories for itself. Your mind would rather be horrified than bored.” 

“I see.” She said, “And why would my mind create you to bring me anywhere? To bring me home of all places? Irony?” 

“As strange as it seems, I am actually here.” 

“Why?”

“Like I said, I came to get you.” 

“Why?” She looked up at him again, “Of all the people in existence, why would you possibly come to save me.” 

“I’m not doing it for you.” Hordak snapped. He took a deep breath, and calmed himself as his hand went into his pocket and grasped the tank top Entrapta had given him, “I’m not doing this for you.” 

“Then you’re doing it for yourself? What, you need me? For some kind of experiment? You need my power?” 

“No. In fact I have a feeling that your presence back on Etheria will complicate things for me.” He had considered this as they put the portal together. Glimmer was queen now, but how did it work if Angella came back after Glimmer was named Queen? Did it matter if Angella wasn’t in the mental state to rule? If Angella took over again, what did that mean for his agreement with Glimmer. 

He only hoped the other princesses would speak up for him, or at least that he coudl convince Queen Angella that he was necessary to keep Horde Prime from killing half the princesses. “

“Then why?” She asked again

“Though Glimmer has proven to be capable as your replacement, I have no doubt that having you around would make things easier for her.” He frowned, Then said, “And If I bring you back, it’ll look good on me.” That was the truth too, and if she needed him to have a more selfish motive in order for her to believe him….

That seemed to make her perk up a little, “Well.” She said, the first bit of life entering her voice, “That’s surprising.” 

“That she’s doing well?” 

“No, that the first good thing I’d hear about Glimmer would come from you.” 

Hordak shrugged, “Well, there we have it.” He said. 

She was quiet for a moment,then looked back at her knees, “Tell me how she’s doing.” 

Hordak frowned, “She’s coping.” He said, “She’s doing well, but she wasn’t prepared for this. That wasn’t her fault. She should have been prepared for this.” He frowned, “There’s also a crisis happening at the moment. She’s handling it well, but to be honest it’s a bigger threat than she should have to deal with.” 

“Oh? What kind of Crisis? Is the Horde gaining ground?”

“No. I mean, yes, but not My Horde.” He frowned, “I don’t have a Horde anymore.” 

“You don’t?” 

“I do not.” Hordak said, “I serve your daughter now.” 

Angella laughed, “That’s hilarious.” She said, “You’d never serve BrightMoon.” 

“I’d never serve you.” He said, trying very very hard to keep his tone level, “But given the situation, I am working for BrightMoon. 

“And how did that happen.”

Hordak shook his head, “I don’t wish to stay here longer than I need to.” He said. His skin was starting to itch, and he wanted to get out of here before his own mind started to create its own hallucinations. “You could come with me, and get out of here. Find out from your daughter. In fact, if you want i’ll answer any question you have once we’re out of here.” 

Angella was quiet for a moment, then stood up. She was unsteady on her feet, and at first Hordak thought she was going to fall over,but she managed to keep herself upright. “Very well.” She said. “At least you’re going to show me something good. Probably. That’ll be a nice change of pace.” She looked around, squinting her eyes, “Where are we going.” 

Hordak pointed into the distance where he could just see a dot of light, “Over there.” He said, “I created a doorway to slip into this space and see if you were still alive.” 

“Well, Sorry. I think I am.”

She started walking towards the portal wordlessly. Hordak frowned as he watched her. Well, this wasn’t the best case scenario, but it wasn’t the worst either. Clearly she had gone mad out here, but she was responsive, mobile, and clearly not dead. 

“Entrapta.” Hordak spoke into the communicator, “I’m heading back to the portal entrance. Angella is with me.” 

“Yes, I suppose I’m not a queen anymore.” She said dryly. 

“Ok! Portal signals still seem good over here.” 

It occurred to him that he had lost track of the metronome while he was talking to Angella, “How long have I been gone so far.” He asked. 

“Uhh… 3 hours 24 minutes, 13 seconds.” Entrapta’s voice said over the speaker.

“And how much of that was from the time Bow spoke to Angella. “ 

“3 hours, 5 minutes, 33 seconds.” 

He had figured as much. Because he had lost track of the metronome, he had lost track of time, and it had slipped away from him. Still, a gap of a few hours wasn’t awful. 

“Understood. Keep the portal stable.” 

“Will do!” Entrapta said, “Be careful. Come back fast. Love you!” 

Hordak felt his ears flick down and burn bright blue, “Love you too.” He said, ignoring the sudden, startled look of Queen Angella. 

Angella gave him a long, confused look. “Love you too?” She asked, “And… that was Princess Entrapta?” 

“She’s my mate.” Hordak said, trying to keep his voice level while his ears and cheeks flushed. Well, at least that statement got a reaction out of the former queen. She looked at Hordak, her eyes widened with surprise. 

“Really?”

“Really.” 

“You and Entrapta.” 

“Correct.” 

Angella stared at him for a moment longer, then looked ahead, “I’m almost tempted to believe that you’re real.” She said, “I don’t think my mind could make that up.” 

“Yes yes, Former Lord of the Fright Zone and the Princess of Dryl. Very surprising. It’s old news in BrightMoon now.” 

“Interesting. Well, like I said, I’d almost believe it was really you. If I did, Of course I’d have to attack you.” 

“I’d not recommend that. Your daughter is relying on me to help with this crisis at the moment.” 

Angella looked away, “Well, there’s still one more thing that tells me it’s not actually you.” 

“And that is.” 

Angella looked Hordak straight in the eyes, “There is no way.” She said slowly, “That Hordak would do anything to help me.” 

Hordak was silent as they walked. That was true. There was no way he’d lift a finger to help Angella. If it weren’t for Glimmer, he’d not bother. In fact, the idea of Angella alone in a strange place that made little sense probably would have - at least at one point- filled him with a type of dark joy.


	80. Queen Angella

The Scorpion people had warned him that the Queen of BrightMoon wouldn’t speak to him. Or at least, he was sure that’s what they said. The language - Etherian, he had learned- seemed like Universal Common with a handful of words and grammatical compositions thrown in from other languages from across the galaxy. 

Very odd considering how small this planet was.

Odder still, seeing that this planet was placed in some kind of strange side pocket. It wasn’t in the universe. The ‘sun’ wasn’t a sun, it was some kind of bright satellite. The moon never changed it’s phase, and Hordak never, in the two years he had been here now, seen the stars. Not once. It made him feel sick to his stomach still to think about it, and he had nearly wept when he realized where he was. 

Despondos. It was supposed to be just a story. It was the place where immortal monsters were banished forever and the universe was kept safe. It wasn’t supposed to be a place where a clone- no, a hordak- just landed. 

But he supposed it was Hordak now. It was a name apparently, or at least he had miscommunicated that it was a name, and now he was a strange creature with the name Hordak, and Hordak had a reputation that was helpful to his survival. 

So… Hordak was his name now. And this clone named Hordak needed to see this Queen of BrightMoon. BrightMoon had the most resources from what he had been told. If he was given the resources he needed, he could open a portal out of Despondos. Not only could he get himself home, but he’d be able to bring this planet out of the pocket dimension, and that would be something for Horde Prime to see, yes? Not only had he survived combat, not only had he crashed on a strange, hostile planet and survived, but he also brought the whole planet back for Horde Prime. 

Or he would. First things first - he needed supplies. 

He travelled alone on a makeshift skiff, since the scorpion people wouldn’t go with him to Bright Moon, and got to the palace in surprising time. It was honestly beautiful, but that did nothing to make Hordak feel better about the place. The closer he had gotten to Bright Moon, the nicer the communities looked, the lusher and safer the land was. He had noted a vast disparity in the land, resources, and wealth that the Scorpion people and their allies lived on, and the land that was closer to Bright Moon. 

“Magic.” The Scorpion King Scorpio said, “That’s the biggest difference. That and they just don’t like us.” King Scorpio had laughed when he said that, his stinger waving in the air, “Don’t go to them, Hordak. They won’t help you. You’re not one of them.” 

He had to try though. 

He was approached at the gates by a handful of guards who brought out their spears as soon as Hordak removed the helmet he had been wearing. He kept the armor on over him - it didn’t look perfect, but his defect was getting worse and he needed the support. He was certain he looked wider and perhaps more intimidating than he’d have liked when approaching Bright Moon, but he couldn’t help that. 

He held his hands before him, palms forward, “I seek the audience with Queen Angella.” He said in his best Etherian. He knew it wasn’t perfect yet, and he still had what King Scorpio called a “funny little accent” But it was the best he could do. 

The guards looked at one another, then lowered their spears slowly, “Follow.” One said, gesturing to Hordak. He frowned- he didn’t like being spoken to like that- like was a particularly stupid dog- but he followed the guard nevertheless. The other one took off, perhaps to tell this Queen Angella that he was there. 

Well, so far this was going as well as Hordak could expect given he was a stranger with nobody presenting him to the royalty of his planet. ideally he’d have preferred to bring gifts if he had nobody to present him, but he hadn’t been in a position to get his hands on anything that would be considered a worthy present for the Queen of BrightMoon. 

Still, He could promise future presents. If they got him off this planet and back into the universe proper he’d shower them with technology and medicine and treasures. 

He was brought to some kind of waiting room which was attended by two more guards who stood wordlessly at attention. He did his best to ignore them as he sat down on a very plush couch. He went over what he would say in his head. He didn’t know what kind of scientific knowledge this planet had, but he was certain that he could get the point across well enough. He just had to speak slowly and carefully so they’d understand him. 

He caught one of the guards staring at him. He was used to it by now- he had realized that there was nothing that looked quite like him on the planet, but he still didn’t like being stared at. He looked away, pretending that he hadn’t seen them staring, and went over what he had planned to say again. 

He had given many speeches, played the diplomat countless times, but this was different than any other time before, and that made him nervous. First, this planet didn’t know who Horde Prime was, so he didn’t have the Weight of Prime’s authority at his back. He also didn't have a translator, either digital or in person, so he’d have to make do with the Etherian he had learned. He was also alone. He didn't have an armed escort, he didn't have assistants, he didn’t have DH. 

His thoughts were ripped from him as he thought about DH. Was DH safe? Was DH looking for him? At least he knew why Prime hadn’t come to find him now - Prime didn't know where he was, so that made him feel better. 

It seemed like ages before another guard came in and gestured to him, crooking their finger at him roughly. Hordak felt a little insulted by his gesture, but given that he wasn’t certain that it was meant as an insult, he held his tongue. He got up, and followed the guard to a grand throne room- one that despite its glamour made Hordak’s stomach drop. 

The wealth disparity was too much. It wasn’t too far away where the Scorpion people lived in much lesser accommodations - though the king had a ‘palace’ it wasn’t as grand as this, and there weren’t the same ostentatious displays of wealth around the Scorpion people. As well, the “palace” of the scorpion people didn’t have nobles standing around in finery to listen to King Scorpio. Still. That wasn’t why he was there. The politics of a small planet weren’t his concern, and when this planet was brought out of Despondos he was certain that Prime would work about equalizing the planet. 

The queen was lounging- not sitting- on a large, ornate throne on a raised dais. As soon as his eyes hit her, Hordak felt another terrible foreboding. The way she was sitting wasn’t good. He hoped, he really hoped that it was a cultural thing that he didn’t understand well yet, but normally a throne was to be sat upon with some reverence. Not lounged on. The queen was also young. He couldn’t have been able to tell how old she was but by looking at her he would have considered her to be a youth at least - only just old enough to rule without a reagent. At her back were a pair of glorious, feathered wings which were bent slightly askew to accommodate how she was sitting, and a woman in a fine silken dress sat just behind her on a much less ornate chair- an advisor, he figured. 

“Queen Angella of BrightMoon.” The guard said as she knelt down before Angella, “I Present to you, ‘Hordak.’ 

Hordak took a step forward and gave a quick bow - he wouldn’t kneel. One didn’t kneel unless it was to the Emperor of the known Universe. 

“Queen Angella.” He said is slow, deliberate Etherian, “I-“ 

“Hor-Dak.” She said, wrinkling her nose as though she smelled something foul, “That’s a repulsive name. What kind of name is ‘Hordak’” 

Hordak took a deep breath. She was young, and he was very alien to her. He could have patience. “It is a name from the Horde, Queen Angella-“ 

“The Horde? What, like, an attacking horde?” She turned to her advisor, “Is there an attack heading our way?” 

“No, Queen Angella.” She said. 

“The Horde exista beyond Etheria.” Hordak said. He had dealt with child rulers before, but they had always shown him the respect that was befitting the Horde Alpha. 

“Beyond Etheria?” She leaned forward, tilting her head, “A new island in the ocean, perhaps?” 

Hordak shook his head and pointed overhead, “Out there.” He said, “Out in space.” 

Queen Angella frowned as she looked at him, “What, you mean the moon? You come from the moon?” 

“Past the moon.” He said, “Your planet is trapped in a prison. A -“ The word for ‘dimension’ hadn’t come up in Etherian. “Bubble of reality separate from the rest. Beyond Etheria, beyond your ‘sun’ and moon, there’s a whole, wide universe.” 

The Queen was looking at him, confused now. He felt his ears flick and flush as she stared him down, but he had learned that the Etherians - like many species- focused on the face and not the ears for emotional cues, and as such they tended to ignore the movement of his ears. He cleared his throat, and continued, “I ask for resources.” He continued- he might as well get to the point, “Materials and resources to bring Etheria out of this bubble and into the greater universe where riches and treasures and glories you cannot conceive of exist.” 

“Oh I see.” Queen Angella said as she shifted her weight, smirking at Hordak, “And exactly what resources do you need. Gold? Jewels? Magical artifacts?” 

“No.” Hordak said. He thought that he heard a hint of sarcasm in her voice, but he wasn’t sure, “I need various metals, Iridium to start-“ 

“Iridium?” She looked at her advisor again, who was staring at Hordak with interest at least, “That’s pretty worthless, isn’t it?” 

“It looks a little like silver,” She said, “But it’s far too brittle for us to use.” 

“I’ll need electronics.” He continued. In fact, the number of things he needed was far more complex, but he hadn’t come across the vocabulary for it yet, and didn’t wish to overwhelm the queen with details, “If I am given access to-“ 

“Why is your head so funny?” 

Hordak stopped what he was saying, and looked up at the queen, “I… Pardon me?” 

“Your head. Your whole face. You look like you’ve died.” She looked back to her advisor, “Have you come across a creature that looks quite like this?” 

“No, your majesty.” 

“What kind of animal are you?” Queen Angella said, leaning forward. 

Hordak knew enough to know that he was in fact being insulted at this point. He stood upright. “I am no animal.” He said, trying his best to keep his voice even, “I am a soldier of the Horde-“ 

“Ah ha.” Queen Angella said, sounding very much as though she felt that Hordak had just fallen into a particularly clever trap, “A soldier. So it is an invasion.” She grinned as she looked over at him, “Tell me, what magic does your army possess?” 

“None.” He said. Horde Prime detested magic, and none of the clones had been taught much about it. 

“I see. Then you must have interesting weaponry.”

“I have very few and very simple weapons.” He admitted, “I did not come for war.” 

“But you’re a soldier. Why else would a soldier be here.” 

Hordak suppressed the biting comments he wanted to throw at her. “My presence on this planet is accidental.” 

“Aww, just a little accident.” She said, tittering. There was light tittering from the others standing to the side, watching. Hordak ignored it. “Well, I guess you have a vast army then?” 

“Not here on Etheria.” He said, “But if given the resources-“ 

Queen Angella turned back to her advisor, “Does he want me to give him the resources to build an army?” 

“I am unsure.” 

“If given the resources, I can bring Etheria out of it’s prison.” He pressed on. He had to make her understand. Why did she have to be a child? Why did she have to be such a brat.” 

“So. You’re saying if we give you resources, you can take the WHOLE PLANET out of a “Prison” and .. Where again?” 

Hordak gave a low sigh, “The Greater Universe.” Hordak said. 

“And what’s there?” 

“Other planets. Countless people, societies-“ 

“Outside of Etheria?” 

“Outside of your bubble.” He said. 

Queen Angella was silent for a long time, then started to laugh. There was an uneasy moment where the rest of the people in the throne room seemed to hesitate before joining their queen in laughter. 

“So Etheria is trapped in a bubble.” She said wiping tears of mirth from her eyes, “Oh my. That’s a glorious joke.” 

“I am not joking.” Hordak said, frowning, “I-“ 

“Guards.” She said, “Apprehend him. I find him amusing. I wish to keep him.” 

The guards started towards him. Hordak cursed in his native tongue as he backed away. 

“Did you hear him babbling?” The Queen said, “Oh, he’s going to be the perfect curiosity piece. Oh… what do you call them.” She turned to her advisor again, “A strange beast like that. What’s the word?” 

“Cryptid, perhaps?”

Angella wrinkled her nose, “Sounds like crypt. That suits, I suppose. He looked like a skeleton.”

He had been warned. Hordak remembered King Scorpio warning him not to come here. Warning that the queen wouldn’t listen to anyone who wasn’t in her devoted circle of followers. Still, he was so surprised by these events, so shocked that a queen would behave in such a way that it wasn’t until he felt one of the guards take his forearm that it really hit him. 

“Come with me.” The guard said, amusement in her voice. 

They think I'm crazy, Hordak realized. They thought he was crazy, and now it seemed like he’d be either imprisoned, or made this young queen’s fool. 

Rage. Deep inside his chest, the rage built up. He had not felt such rage before he landed on Etheria; it had never ruled him like it did now. To be fair though, he had never been mocked as he was now. He had never been treated so appallingly by a ruler of any type. 

No planet or people have ever treated him as this planet and these people had. 

He twisted, shifting his arm in a way that he now knew was absolutely alien and repulsive to Etherians. The guard was taken aback, and nearly released his arm. When they didn’t, Hordak twisted his arm and pulled it easily from their grip, dropped to the ground, and kicked their feet out from under them. Before he could rise up properly another guard was heading towards him. He rolled past, kicked their knee back, and then rose up, grabbing the soldiers neck as she fell down towards the ground. 

It took all his self restraint not to crack her neck. 

There was a blast from nearby - a burst of light and the feeling of searing heat. Hordak was just able to get out of the way of it as he located it’s source. This Queen Angella had taken up some kind of staff and was wielding it to control some kind of magical powers. 

Right. Magic. He had been warned about that too. 

He waited for her to start aiming at him. He ran towards the windows, and at the last moment, when he heard her sharp intake of breath just before she fired her magic at him, he jumped backwards. The blast of magic rushed past him and shattered one of the many stained glass windows that led out into the courtyard. Hordak jumped out of the window, and ran across the rooftops for a few seconds before he remembered the wings on the Queen’s back. He managed to jump down into the shadows between two sections of the castle just as she soared out the window after him, Her staff in hand. 

It would take him hours to escape the palace, and days to get back to the Scorpion people- since his skiff had been taken away. Every step he took to get back to the scorpion people and his new fright zone was heavy with the rage that bubbled up inside him. He had never been mocked before. Mocking him, even mocking a Hordak like that was to mock Horde Prime. Not only had he been mocked, but he had nearly been captured and - from the way things had been looking- employed for her amusement. He’d be a source of mirth for her while she lounged in her gilded throne. While the Scorpion people who lived so far away from the safe lands and splendor near Bright Moon fought with the other tribes over scant resources, land, and food. 

While people who were not the Queen’s favourite people were allowed to starve and die, to live in squalor. 

By the time he got back to the Scorpion people the rage had cooled, but it wasn’t gone. Like a fire, it had burned hard and hot. It had burned away any compassion he might have had left for the naive, uneducated people of this mudball of a planet, and left behind pure will. 

He’d get his resources. He didn’t know how yet, but he’d get them supposing he had to build an army to do it. He’d raise an army, he’d bring Prime to Etheria, and if he himself hadn’t set things right by then, then Prime would finish the job. 

But of course, if Hordak managed to do it himself, if he managed to give Etheria as a present to Prime, then maybe he’d no longer be a hordak. Maybe he’d be given the position of Alpha once more. 

Maybe Horde Prime would look at him, and call him little brother as he had once, before all this happened.


	81. Holes

“What on Etheria is wrong with your arm?!” 

Hordak was focusing on the sound of the metronome coming from his communicator, trying to keep himself from suffering another time slip so he hadn’t noticed that he had been scratching his arm. He was startled out of his focus by her sudden exclamation, and the utter disgust in her voice. He looked up, saw horror in her face, and then with a sense of dread he looked down at his arm. 

Holes. Deep, dark holes, each one about the size of the tip of his pinky. He couldn’t see muscle under the skin, but he could see tiny black worms with too many legs writhing under his flesh. 

He gave a suppressed, strangled scream. Had every muscle in his whole body not tensed up in that moment he had no doubt that it would have come out loud and feral. He put his arm behind his back, shaking as he looked away from his arm and the former queen.

“It’s nothing.” He said once he found his voice again. He fumbled, digging into his pocket for the tank top that Entrapta had given him. He pulled it out, and averting his eyes from his own skin he wrapped his arm in the shirt. 

“That’s not nothing, that’-“ She gagged, looking away, “That’s vile.” She looked back to him, “Do you just have bugs living under your skin?” She shook her head, “No no, it’s probably just my mind playing tricks on me.” 

“Not quite.” Hordak said, taking a deep breath as he firmly tied the shirt around his arm. He looked down, adn for the moment he couldn’t see the awful holes in his arm. Still, he was certain he could feel it now, and he knew that the longer he was here, the worse this would get. He reminded himself over and over that it wasn't real “It’s my mind playing tricks on us.” He said, moreso trying to convince himself. “As I said, the mind doesn’t like to have this little stimuli.” 

Angella slowed, and then stopped. Hordak took a few steps forward, then realizing that she had stopped he turned around. 

“What?” 

“You’re not real, right?” 

He frowned, “Depends.” He said, “Are you going to attack me if I am? I don’t have time for that.” 

Angella took a step backwards, her fists balling up. Her hand shook, as though she was trying to bring fourth something - maybe some magic - but nothing happened.

Maybe he was correct in one of his theories- that being outside of the influence of Etheria limited her power. 

“I am really here.” He said. “And I am really leading you out.” 

“Why?” She took another step back. 

Hordak sighed- he liked it better when she was following him out of pure boredom - at least then she wasn’t questioning him. “I don’t know.” He said, irritated. Something that the shapeshifter, Double-Trouble, had said to him floated back to his mind, “The power of love? You like those kinds of stories I assume?” He felt his ears flick and flush as he even said that. 

“Entrapta wants me back?” 

He stopped, and wondered if Entrapta did want her back, and for the first time really wondered why he was doing this. Why he had considered the possibility of a rescue mission since Glimmer mentioned that Queen Angella was alive. 

“I imagine that bringing you back to Etheria will solidify my position among my new allies.” He said, though his tone was unsure, and his ears flicked oddly, “Also, Entrapta attempted to stop the portal experiment. If the true effect of opening it up had been known, the project would have been stopped.” 

“You would have let her stop? You wanted to bring your army to Etheria, and you would have ler her stop?!” 

He would have embraced the excuse to stay on Etheria with Entrapta. In that moment, before the lies, before he thought that Entrapta had abandoned him, he would have thrown away the whole portal project. 

“The side-effects of the portal would have had a net-negative impact. So yes.” He turned and started walking again, “Now, Can we continue?” He held up his arm, “The longer we linger, the worse this gets. I’d rather not let it spread to my face.” 

After a moment, she walked after him. “I should attack you.” 

“After we’re out of the portal, you go right ahead.” He said. He knew that if she did he’d have some real problems but he also hoped that being back in her palace might keep her distracted enough to let him get some distance. And of coure, Entrapta would help. 

Still. Get out of the portal first, then deal with what happens after that. 

“Hordak! Hordak!” 

Entrapta’s voice came from the communicator at his wrist, frantic and panicked. The tone sent ice through his veins as he lifted it up to his face, “Entrapta?” 

“Get out. Now-“ there was static, and shouting in the background, “You have to-“ More static. Garbled speech. 

“What?” Angella snapped from behind him. 

“Unsure.” He said, “Either my mind is playing different tricks on me, or there’s a problem. Either way, we need to run.” He started running towards the portal, glancing back to see if Angella was following him. She was. Good. He didn’t know if he had time to try to knock her out now and drag her. He held the communicator up to his ear as he ran, and though he couldn’t quite make anything out, he could hear shouting. 

Something bad was happening. Perhaps Horde Prime was invading? Maybe DH, now with their robotic body fully under Prime’s control, had walked in and saw the portal open? Maybe the portal was becoming unstable. A million things could be causing them problems, and none of them was good. 

“Wings?” Angella said, panting behind him. 

“What?” He turned around, and saw that since he was running, his cloak was flapping up around him and she could see his wings underneath. “Yes. Wings.” 

“Then why are we running!? Why are THOSE strapped down!?” She jumped into the sky, her wings flapping and sending currants spinning around him as she rose up, dove down, and ripped the straps off his wings as she passed him. 

“Fly if we’re rushing!” She said. 

“Wait, no, I can’t-“ But she was already soaring ahead of him, heading to the portal. His wings puffed out behind him, throwing him off balance as he fell to the ground. His arm stuck nothing, but hurt all the same because he expected it to hurt. Pain ran up his arm as he pulled himself to his kneels, cursing. 

He looked ahead. Angella was far ahead of him. Cursing again, he got up. Alright, maybe that would work in his favor. If she got out, if there was an attack then she’d be able to help get some time for Entrapta to reopen the portal should it close before he got through.

Unless she said he was lost in here. Or if she said she died in here. If the portal closed, then commincation with Entrapta would close and -“

His arms had more holes in it, peeking out from around the tank top. He suppressed another scream - his mind was getting away from him, and he had to act. He pulled himself up, grabbed his wings and held them around his body as he ran. 

He wasn’t nearly as fast like this, but at least he was more or less keeping his balance. He looked back up to see how far ahead of him Angella had gotten, but he couldn’t see her. The portal was still open, so he figured that she had gotten out. 

He put his head down and started running as fast as he could manage, Now all he had to do was get there himself. The communicator gave off more sounds of shouting, some kind of fuss. He tried to listen but he couldn't because of the sound of the wind in his ears. 

Wait. Wind? Where was it coming from? He frowned and looked around as he tried to figure out what the noise was. He only just caught a glimpse of Angella soaring up behind him before she grabbed him by the arms and pulled him into air, soaring faster than he’d ever be able to run. 

“You can’t fly?” She shouted in disbelief, “How can you not fly?” 

“The wings are new.” He said. 

“You should have said something!’ 

“I didn’t have much chance!” 

No matter now. They barrelled towards the portal. Closer and closer. The portal was wavering, losing it’s connection . They didn’t have much time left, and he couldn’t hear anything from the communicator over the flapping of Angella’s wings. 

He close his eyes, not wanting to see the portal disappear before him as they appraoched. They were so close, so damn close-

========

  
  


Flying at top speed, Angella burst through the portal just as it collapsed in on itself, dragging Hordak by the arms through the lab, crashing into piles of tech and sending pieces of scrap flying. She changed course, her massive, strong wings creating a chaotic gale that sent papers flying, dropping Hordak just in time to redirect herself. She landed in an undignified lump on the ground as Hordak himself went flying into the wall. 

The wall hit his head so hard he thought he could feel his brain move in his skull. Everything spun, and all he could think was “Well. That’s going to be a concussion.” 

He heard Entrapta shout, and once he could focus again she was all he could see. Her hair was all around him, her hands were on his shoulders. She helped him up and propped him up against the wall, moving now broken tech out of the way. 

“Hordak! Hordak, are you ok?!” She looked down and saw the tank top wrapped around his arm, “Did you get hurt?” 

Hordak shook his head, but didn’t respond. He felt off- which wasn’t surprising given the whole travelling through a portal thing and then instantly being smacked in the head. 

“What’s HE doing here!” He heard an unfamiliar voice say. He looked around, his vision swimming before him as he tried to locate the source of the noise. 

“Dad! No!” He heard Glimmer said, “That’s - he’s the ally I told you about!” 

Hordak finally saw the source of the shout. A taller Etherian man with long black hair streaked with grey, and a beard to match. Familiar, but his mind was too dazed in the moment to take it in. 

Angella was similarily dazed, but the figure before her was a man she had known well “... Micah?” Came her confused voice. 

The man with the beard turned to the former queen who was pulling herself up from the floor, brushing herself off. 

“.... Angella?” He took a step forward, “I thought... I was told you were gone.” 

Hordak’s brain seemed to settle into place and start thinking again. Still, this made no sense. He turned to Entrapta. “Micah?” He asked. 

“That’s why Glimmer and the others were gone when we got back.” She said, “You said you sent him off to Beast Island. They went to see if they could find him.”

Hordak started to pull himself up-he had questions and was very confused- but as soon as he did, some kind of magical bonds held him down and caused him to fall. Thankfully, Entrapta caught him. 

Ther was a sudden burst of noise, Protests from many mouths. He looked up and saw that the other princesses were here as well - Perfuma and Adora had apparently met up with Glimmer, Mermista, Frosta, Netossa and Spinerella and they had all come up to the lab together. 

Micah ignored the protests and approached Hordak. He made a somewhat familiar gesture in the air and Hordak felt the magic settle over him. 

“Truth spell.” Micah said, “I wouldn’t recommend trying to-“ 

“This again?” Hordak said, feeling the words spill out of his mouth. He looked over at Glimmer, “I thought we were past this!” 

“We are!” Glimmer said, taking a step towards Micha, “Dad, no, he’s helping us.” 

“He’s using you.” Micah said without letting his glare leave Hordak’s face, “Now. You’ll tell us why. What’s your plan. What’s your goal here?” 

“My goal right at this moment was to retrieve -your- queen from The Space Between, which was successful I might point out.” 

MIcah snapped, “All of this!” Micha said, waving his arms around at the broken mess of Horde and First One’s tech. “This whole farce with helping us.” 

“Farce? Farce!? How DARE you! I surrendered! I vowed to help your daughter! You dare to question my word! You think I’m not helping! That I’m not doing everything I can to keep Prime from taking over this little island of a planet?” He had no way to know how much of the current events the former king knew of, but apparently the truth spell didn’t care about that. He tried to gesture to Angella, but of course he was still bound, “Didn’t I just come barreling out of a portal with her?” 

“Why? You’d never help Angella. “

“Of course I wouldn’t.” He snarled, “Of course I wouldn’t just help her. She’s an awful, self-centered brat who tried to capture me and turn me into her personal damned amusement when all I did was come to her and ASK for RESOURCES TO GET OFF THIS DAMNED MUDBALL OF A PLANET!” 

There was silence. Glimmer took a step forward this time. “W-what?” She looked from Hordak to her mother who was still trying to get her bearings, “Mom… Mom what is he talking about?” 

“Glimmer, no, I -“ Angella started, but the Truth Spell was in full swing, and Hordak couldn’t help but answer. 

“What? What is right. I got stuck on this Planet. I didn’t want to be here. I just wanted to get off this planet. I went to her for resources because apparently Bright Moon was the only place back then which had any real resources because the rest of this awful, tiny, dystopian planet was living in squalor and poverty under the rule of a self-centered child-queen!” He nearly laughed. “And what did I get? I had nothing, I didn’t have an army, or weapons with me, I didn’t have Horde Prime at my back. I just ASKED FOR HELP and I was MOCKED PUBLICALLY and nearly captured for Amusement!” 

Silence. He could almost hear his own voice in his ears. His breathing was heavy, but not from stress- it was from the rage that the spell had brought fourth.

Glimmer looked back at Hordak, her eyes wide in disbelief. He swore he could see tears forming in her eyes. 

“That… She’d not.. she’d never.” 

“I can’t exactly lie about this, can I?” He snapped. He didn’t mean to snap. He didn’t intend to tell her any of that. Maybe once he’d have enjoyed telling Glimmer how awful her mother had been once, but now… 

She turned to Angella, “Mom…” She looked like she wanted to hug her and run from her at the same time. 

MIcah looked back towards Angella, but then brought his glare back to Hordak, “All the more reason why I should question your motives for bringing her back. You’d never help her-“ 

“No, I wouldn’t, but I felt bad for Glimmer! This wasn’t her fault. She’s not ready for this! I didn’t know the portal was going to do that- obviously I didn’t- and damnit, I felt bad for Glimmer losing her mother!” 

Oh. So that was why. Interesting. Could a truth spell bring out truths that someone didn’t even know themselves. He felt bad for Glimmer? Why? Wouldn’t he have killed Angella before if he had the chance?

Of course he would have. Before he knew Glimmer. Before he learned that desite her lack of experience, she was a better ruler than Angella. At least, she was a more compassionate one. She made bad decisions, but they never seemed outright malicious, 

“What, so you came to take advantage of my daughter’s inexperience, and ended up feeling bad?” He didn’t have the same weight to his words anymore, but he was still holding a fierce gaze. 

“I’m not here to take advantage of anyone!” He said, “I’m here For Entrapta! Because she’s here! And I love her, so of course I’m going to fight for whoever she’s fighting with. Of course I’m going to do what I have to in order to keep my mate safe!” 

He heard Mermista fake a gag, and he was sure that someone made the “Aww” sound. He felt his ears flush as he felt the eyes of all the princesses, and the former king and queen on him. 

“And for that, you’d fight against your leader? You’d fight against your own kind?” 

“Of course I would! Horde Prime Abandoned me! He doesn’t want me. He doesn’t give a shit about me!” 

Oh. 

Just like that, Hordak felt the rage seep out of him. The tension in his muscles just gave way as he slumped forward, his face slackening, his ears drooping down, his brows knit in a combination of sorrow and confusion. 

“Oh.” 

“That’s enough!” 

He thought it’d be Entrapta who said it, but she was busy. She was holding, him, her hair wrapped around him, her hands on his shoulders. No, It was Frosta who said that, and who now stood between him and the former king.

“King Micah, Hordak is here to help. He’s a friend!” She said. 

“I’m a friend?” He found himself asking the small princess. 

Perfuma and Mermista took a few steps forward,

“Of course you are.” Perfuma said. 

“Man. For someone who's suppose to be smart, you’re real dumb.” Mermista added, “Are you really that stupid when it comes to yourself?” 

“Yes, apparently.” 

“Entrapta? Gag him?” 

Before Hordak could respond, Hordak felt Entrapta’s hair around his face, covering his mouth and muffling his voice. 

“King Micah.” Mermista said, “Like, we’re really happy you’re back, but Hordak’s our friend and ally now. Please stop picking on him.” 

Bow laughed nervously and stood up next to Hordak and Entrapta, “Yeah. The truth spell is only cute when he’s gushing about Entrapta.” 

Hordak attempted to say that he doesn’t ‘gush’ he gives her only a tenth of the praise that she deserved, but his mouth was muffled by hair. 

“Have you forgotten everything Hordak’s done?” Micah said, taking a step forward. 

“You mean like saving me from drowning in the Frozen Wastes?” Frosta said

“Or saving us all from an enemy clone?” Mermista said. 

“He protected us from bandits in the Crimson Wastes.” Perfuma said. 

“And he told us about Horde Prime.” Bow said, “And he’s been giving us information and plotting against Prime. Also, he’s been helping Glimmer get organized.”

“He also went to the Beast Island to save me. Without his armor.” Entrapta said, “And he saved me from explosions a bunch of times. OH! And he sent out an S.O.S when I was about to die, and surrendered to your daughter to save my life!” 

“And he saved us from Prime’s drones!” Adora said, taking a step forward, “And that hurt him pretty badly!” 

“Glimmer?” Mermista said, turning to the still silent queen, “Maybe you want to, like, spend some time with your parents? Fill them in? Away from here?”

Glimmer, still looking honestly shocked and dumbfounded, took a moment to realize that she was being spoken to. She nodded, took her parents’ hands, and in a flash she had teleported away. 

There was a collective sigh of relief. Mermista turned to Hordak, “Hey, sorry about that. If we knew that you were doing this-“ She gestured to the portal, “We probably wouldn’t have come up with Micah.” She turned to Entrapta, “Sorry about him trying to...You know, break your portal.” 

Ah, that had been the problem. Micah tried to break the portal. 

“Oh it’s ok!” Entrapta said, her hair puffing up in excitement, releasing Hordak in the process, “I think we’re done with it now, and we can fix it later if we need it.” 

“Hordak, why didn’t you tell us that you were going to try to bring Angella back?” 

“In case I failed.” Hordak said, still very much under the influence of the spell, “I didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up in case I -“ His mouth was muffled again by hair. 

“Right. We should like, leave while you’re all being truthful and stuff.” Mermista said, “Wouldn’t want you to say anything too sappy, right?” She smirked and turned around, “We’ll be back later. Check on you and stuff. You know. Your head and all.” 

“Thanks!” Entrapta said, “I’ll send Imp too tell you when the Truth Spell is worn off. Then you can tell us what happened while we were gone!” 

Everyone filed out of the room, with Frosta lagging behind. Just as she was at the door, she stopped and looked back at Hordak. She walked up to him, more or less at face level with him since he was still on the floor. 

“You are our friend.” She said, “And Prime’s a jerk.” She gave him a quick, very sudden hug before she turned and ran after the other princesses, letting the door close behind her and leaving a very surprised Hordak sitting on the floor with Entrapta. 

  
  
  
  
  
  



	82. Stories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well. I guess the next chapter of my fic comes out on the same day the last season of She-Ra drops. 
> 
> Again, this story will continue. It’s a whole different thing now, with it’s own ending to go to.

Hordak and Entrapta were laying on the bed. Hordak’s concussion hadn’t caused him a headach yet- he knew it would eventually, but he was fine for now. The truth spell had provided some distractions that kept Hordak from working, but given everything he had gotten done that day he considered that it was probably alright to let himself rest a little, at least until the truth spell wore off. The truth spell didn’t do anything to affect his work of course, but it was a distraction. 

He was just wondering if it had worn off, and contemplating getting back to work when there was a knock on the door. Hordak heard Glimmer on the other side call out, “Is it safe to come in?” 

“Hordak.” Entrapta asked him, “What’s your favourite fruit.” 

“I hate fruit.” Hordak said as his ears twitched strangly. He breathed a sigh of relief; the truth spell had worn off. He sat up and adjusted his dress as he stood, “It is safe.” He said as Entrapta unlocked the door. 

Glimmer slipped into the room and close the door behind her. She stood with her hands against the door, staring off into nothing.

“Hordak.” She finally said, her voice soft and small. 

“Glimmer.” 

“... what happened today?”

Hordak glanced to the window and stared out into the distance at the fading light. It wasn’t even night yet. “A lot.” He said after letting the events of the day roll through his head. 

Glimmer gave a stifled chuckle which turned into a sob. She steadied herself against the door, wiped her tears, and then turned to face Hordak. 

“What did you... why-“ 

“I told you.” Hordak said, frowning as his ears flicked down, “Under the influence of a truth spell, no less.” 

Glimmer was silent for a moment as she watched him carefully. “You opened up a portal to get my mom out… Because you felt bad?” 

“We technically didn’t open a portal.” Entrapta said, “We opened up a doorway into the space where portals exist, which is where your mother was. Opening an actual portal at this point is still something we can’t do right now. You know. Because of the whole ending all existence thing.” Her hair formed little quotation marks as she said the last bit.

“Why didn’t you tell us you were doing that?” She asked Hordak. He only shrugged in response. 

“I like to bring results. No promises. This was something Entrapta and I could do with limited help.” 

Glimmer walked over to the chair and sat down heavily. “But Bow knew.” She said.

“Bow knew at the last moment, after you and all the others were gone.” Hordak sat back down on the edge of the bed and crossed his legs, “And that wasn’t my intention.” He peered at Glimmer, “Moreover, why did you go to Beast Island without Entrapta and I?” He frowned, “With my improved physical capacities, and our combined experience on Beast Island-“ 

“I… We didn’t want you to know we were going after my dad.” She said. “Adora suggested that maybe you’d feel bad if we went and didn’t find him. Or if we… You know…” She looked aside, “Only found his remains.” 

“What made you think I’d feel bad?” He said, “That was intentional. That was war. He went into combat, he-“ 

“Hordak.” Glimmer cut him off, “You felt bad about mom, and you didn’t mean to trap her in a portal dimension.” She looked away, “You don’t say much when someone brings up my parents. And you end up looking… well, your ears do that droopy thing.” 

Hordak frowned, “Droopy thing?” 

“Yeah. When you’re sad, your ears droop.” 

“She’s right.” Entrapta said, “I mean, you KNOW your ears droop-“ 

Hordak felt his ears flick down and flush, “Yes, well, I didn’t think that -she- noticed that!” 

“Once you get used to watching your ears, you’re kinda easy to read.” Glimmer said, “And-“ 

There was another knock on the door. Glimmer looked to Hordak and Entrapta. 

“Hey, uh. Is it safe to come in.” Mermista said from the other side, “Or are you gonna be all sappy on us.” 

Entrapta opened the door again, this time letting Mermista, Perfuma, Frosta, Spinerella and Netossa in. They looked at Glimmer sitting down in the chair, confused. 

“We thought you were still with your parents.” Mermista said. 

“We…” She looked away. “It’s… complicated.” 

“I’ll say.” Mermista said, “like… Yeah.” 

“You know..” Frosta said quietly, “My parents.. They were the ones who wanted to stay neutral in the war. I didn’t know why. They didn’t say why. Not in front of me anyway. Do you think they knew about how this all started?”

“Potentially. It’s more likely that your grandparents heard rumors.” Hordak replied. The truth was that when Hordak was starting to really gain power in Etheria, the Kingdom of Snows sent a missive of “You leave us alone, we’ll leave you alone.” Which wasn’t a long term deal Hordak felt he could accept, for the time it was useful. Besides, there was the whole “snows” Problem with that kingdom so he more or less left it alone. 

Still, Hordak found himself desperately wanting to change the topic. He turned to Mermista, “You said you’d tell me what happened onBeast Island?” 

“Oh. Yeah. That. Well, We actually found this cave that Bow and Adora told us about. It was tucked away In a cliffside. They said there were some basic supplies there, and -“ 

Entrapta gasped, “oooh! You found our cave!” She said, “Did you find boots?” 

“Boots?” Mermista asked. 

“Big hairy creature. Fun to ride on!” 

“... There were a lot of big hairy creatures out there.” Mermista said. “We avoided them for the most part. Micha was in the cave though, so rescue was easy.” 

“Yeah.” Frosta said, “He said that he saw the Horde ships come, and he saw someone coming and going from the cave shortly after. He thought it was Horde soldiers, so he kept his distance. Then they disappeared, and he went to see if there was anyting he could use.” She scrunched up her face, “By the way, the rations from the fright zone taste awful.” 

“Yeah.” Mermistra said as she saw Hordak’s confused expression, “Yeah. When he saw Glimmer he invited us in and offered us food. He thought we were trapped there.” 

Well, at least it hadn’t been that dangerous. 

“What about you.” Frosta asked, taking a step towards Hordak, “Was it dangerous to go into the portal!? Were the portal monsters there!?” 

There was another knock on the door before Hordak could answer and disappoint Frosta’s clear hope for portal monsters and grand adventures in The Space Between. There was no questions this time as the door opened a crack and Scorpia’s face peeked in. “Hi Lord Hordak, sir, I-“ She looked around and saw all the princesses, “Oh. You have company.” She started to back out, “We’ll just-” 

“Come in.” Hordak said, leaning forward and resting his arms on his knees. There was a level of hilarity to this- he had the Queen of Bright Moon, the princesses visiting him in his room, and now Scorpia led Lonnie, Kyle and Rogelia in as well, Immediately behind them was Mel with a first-aid kit, Luc with two glasses of smoothies, and Jacob, who didn’t have anything in his hands, but his face said that he came with concerns. 

“Oh.” Luc said as he looked at everyone in the room, “Maybe I should have brought more smoothies?” He glanced up at Entrapta and Hordak, “I thought the two of you might be hungry. I don’t know much about portals and the like, but it sounds like hungry work-“ 

“And I’m here because I was told you had an injury to your arm, and possibly a concussion.” Mel said as she set her kit down on the bed and started openeing it. She looked down at Hordak’s arm and said, “Though… Your arm seems fine.” 

“There is no injury to my arm, and… yes, a slight concussion. Nothing that won’t heal on it’s own.” 

Without listening to him, she started pulling things out of the kit, “Well, I can give you something to help with pain anyway. You’ll have a nice headach tomorrow.” 

Hordak wanted to tell her that. He’d probably sleep off his concussion and never experience the pain in a state of consiousness, but it was better to let her get on with her work.

“And uh.. we didn’t bring anything fun…” Scorpia said, looking around for a place to sit down. Entrapta noticed this and dragged forward several old boxes and crates with her hair for people to sit down at. 

Hordak suppressed a smirk, “If I knew I was having guests I’d have asked for more chairs.” He said. His former troops looked at him, confused; they were clearly not used to any levity from him. 

“Sir-“ Scorpia started. 

“It’s just Hordak.” 

“Uh.. H-Hordak then.” She said, “Is it-“ 

There was yet another knock on the door. Entrapta opened it with her hair, and Adora and Bow came in, looked around at everyone in confusion, then looked to Glimmer. 

“Glimmer!” Adora said as she went up to her friend, “We thought you were still with your parents.” 

“I figured I should talk to Hordak.” She said, “Thank him for.. you know. Bringing my mom back. And uh-“ She looked aside, “Honestly… It’s not going well.” 

“So it’s true.” Jacob said, “Queen Angella is back.” 

“She is.” Hordak said. 

“And what does that mean for us?” 

The room lapsed into silence. Judging by the looks on the faces of his former troops, he could tell that that was the reason they were here. The princesses hadn’t considered this issue yet. 

“Wait.” Scorpia said, “Isn’t Queen Glimmer still queen?” 

“I am.” Glimmer said. “Mom… she’s acting like I was just keeping her seat warm though.” She frowned, “I mean. She’s… “ She groaned, “It’s like she’s acting like I messed it all up! She’s not mad, but she keeps going on about how it’s her fault. How she didn’t prepare me. How it’s ‘Trying times’ and everything.” She looked to Hordak, “I told her about Horde Prime, but she thinks we can manage that without you.” 

“She could hardly manage me.” Hordak said, his eyes narrowing, “How does she think she’s going to deal with Horde Prime.” 

“I don’t know.” She said, “She wants to order everyone out. She wants to dissolve the Etherian defense-“ 

“And Kind Micah?” Bow asked. 

“He… Well, he’s more angry that Shadow Weaver is here. Which is strange.” She frowned, “And he wants her gone first of all, but he’s agreeing with everything she’s saying.” She looked up at Hordak, “We’re not going to be able to do this without you.” 

He was almost touched. He knew damn well that it was only the truth, but hearing it come from the Queen of BrightMoon threw him off. Still, he didn’t need to answer as The entire Etherian Defense started talking over one another. 

“She can’t send him away.” 

“Didn’t you get him to sign something.” 

“Can she even take the throne back?” 

“Ok, so where do we go if she does send us off?” 

“I’m sure we’ll figure that out. We have other resoueces outside of Brightmoon.

There was another knock on the door. Hordak looked around, trying to figure out who wasn’t in his room. 

Entrapta opened the door, and the room of chattering princesses fell silent as Shadow weaver entered, followed by a stack of hovering books floating behind her. 

“Well, I figured I’d perhaps find Glimmer here.” She said, “But not half of BrightMoon.” 

Hordak gave a heavy sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose, “I didn’t expect it either.” He said. “I really don’t have the capacity to deal with-“ 

“Thankfully, you don’t have to deal with anything.” Shadow Weaver said, and with a gesture of her hands she deposited the books on a neaby table. “You and I are in the same situation, Hordak.” 

“Hordak frowned as he glanced up at her, “Are we now.” 

“Angella and Micah don’t want either of us here.” She said, “At best, with them in charge we’d be exiled, at worst we’d be imprisoned. Neither of those options are personally attractive to me, and I’m sure they’re not useful for fighting Horde Prime.”

Glimmer gave a heavy sigh, “I need to convince them.” She said, “I need to-“ 

“Technically, you don’t.” Shadow Weaver said, “You’re Queen. They take their orders from you.” 

“Wait.. like, isn't’ Angella queen now?” Mermista asked. 

“No, Glimmer has been crowned. She has the connection to the runestone. She’s the queen.” 

“Can’t my mom take it back though?” 

“Oh my no.” She said in an almost amused tone, “You have to give it back to her. You have to surrender your connection to the runestone, and give her the crown.”

There was a moment of silence among them, though Hordak was the one to speak first. 

“If Queen Glimmer refuses to give it back, what other options does Angella have to try to take the throne.” He asked. 

“She can make an argument to the ruling parties of Etheria that she should be the queen, and if the majority of them agree with her, then Queen Glimmer would be expected to step down.”

“I see.” Hordak said, going over in his head the sheer number of ‘princesses’ in Etheria. “Does every princess on the planet get a say in this?” 

“Oh no.” Shadow Weaver said, “Not every Princess rules a kingdom. No, it’s only the elemental princesses that would have a say.” She gestured to the princesses around her, “And currently, they all seem to be gathered in your bedroom, Hordak, and not checking on Angella. So, if it came to that, I imagine that it wouldn’t be much of a tense vote. Not for you. Same with Micah. In fact, we have less to worry about regarding his claim to the throne since he married into his title. 

There was silence in the room as eyes went from Shadow Weaver to Glimmer. 

‘...What if Glimmer doesn’t.. What if she can’t.” Adora said, “I mean.. she’d just tell her mother no? That she doesn’t think she should rule?” 

“Pretty much.” Shadow Weaver said. 

“Yeesh.” Scorpia muttered, “That would make things a bit awkward…” 

“Isn’t there another way to do it?” Bow asked. 

“There is.” Shadow Weaver said, “I’ve come across war provisions that might make an argument to postpone any such upheavals until we’ve finished dealing with Horde Prime. Though, since Angella doesn’t seem to be in her right mind and Micah has been isolated on Beast Island for years, the argument about their mental ability to rule-“ 

“No.” Glimmer said, looking down at the floor.

“No?” Shadow Weaver said, incredulous, “You plan to give her the throne then?” 

“No.” Glimmer said. “No. No provisions. No excuses, no delays. Just… no.” She looked up, “I won’t give her the crown…” She looked around to the other princesses in the room, “That is… if you guys really want me to be the Queen, if you’ll support me..” 

“... If we do this privately,” Shadow Weaver said, “And let Angella know what our intention is, perhaps we can keep her from actually making a grab for the crown. It would look better on her anyway in the future, and showing a lack of stability right now wouldn’t be good.” 

“Glimmer… Glimmer you don’t even like ruling.” Adora said, “Are you sure you want to do this?” 

Glimmer was silent for another moment. “I’m not.” She said. “I don’t want this. But.. I think it’s the right thing to do. For Etheria. I think mom and dad might hate me for it..” She sniffled, and Hordak could see tears starting to well up, “I just got them back… and they’re going to hate me.” She put her hands to her face and started to just sob. 

A part of Hordak wanted to say that he should just leave. Maybe that would be best. It wouldn’t though.They needed him to fight Prime, and if Angella and Micah were in charge he doubted how effective he could be under them even if he was allowed to stay. 

Besides that, he hadn’t surrendered to HER. 

Adora was at Glimmer’s side, holding her friend by the shoulders. Glimmer quickly wiped away her tears, sniffling as she took deep breaths. 

“When-“ She choked on a sob, then took a deep breath, “When I became queen..” she said softly, “I was supposed to do my best to protect my people. To protect Etheria. And… I think this is best for Etheria.”

Hordak wanted to say that already, she was a better queen than her mother. She was young, untrained, untested, and was still learning a lot of what she needed to know and how she needed to act, but she was acting like a real queen. She was making hard choices, and doing what had to be done. 

“I need something though.” She said, softly. “To know I’m making the right choice.” 

“What do you need, Glimmer.” Adora said. 

Glimmer looked over to hordak, “You.” She said, “I want you to tell me exactly what happened. With my mother. With you. With this whole war.”

Hordak frowned. He figured he could skip over the more personal details of his early days on Etheria, but regardless he knew it wouldn’t show him OR Angella in a good light. Angella had at least had the excuse of youth. He had been a trained general who waged a war out of spite. Sure, there were other factors - the inequality on Etheria, the lack of education, the isolation of the planet, the unification of many warring factions. 

Still, spite and anger had been high up on his list of reasons. 

“You won’t like it.” 

“That doesn’t matter.” 

Hordak glanced around at everyone else around the room, took a deep breath, and then nodded. 

“Fine.” He said, “But in private.” 

“Hey. No way.” Mermista said, “If we’re going to be voting on this, we need to know too!” 

“Uh. I’m technically a princess.” Scorpia said, “Do I get a vote? And uh, does that mean I get to listen in?”

Hordak frowned, but caught the eyes of the other princesses, of his former troops. He knew that they all had their stories about how the war had started. HIs troops fought against the tyranny of privileged and powerful upper-class rulers; The princesses fought against a tyrannical militant overlord. His troops fought to take down oppressors; the princesses fought to protect their lands. 

He supposed both stories were true in their own way. 

“...very well.” He finally said.


	83. History

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m posting early today, because I have no doubt that you’ll all be too busy to read tomorrow. 
> 
> I hope this helps make the time go by as we wait. 
> 
> And.... I hope you’ll all keep reading after season 5 has come and gone.

Hordak gave a deep sigh as he tried to collect his thoughts. There were “reasons” for the war between him and Angella; Political reasons and Socio-economic reasons. These were the reasons that perhaps would be studied one day, depending on who wrote the history books.

But… There was a personal aspect of it of course, and that was what Queen Glimmer wanted to know. That’s what they all wanted to know. 

“Alright.” He said as he stood up and slowly started pacing with his hands behind his back, clasped over his wings. “Well... You know that my being here was a mistake.” He turned away from them as he walked towards the window, “I was exiled, sent into battle, and ended up here though a portal.” 

“How did you go through a portal?” Bow asked. 

“No idea.” Hordak said. “It was in the middle of combat. Best as I can figure, perhaps intense gravity affects might have temporarily ripped one open. It makes very little sense, but I don’t have any other reasoning, nor data from the event.”

“When this is all over, I’m sure we can figure it out!” Entrapta added. 

“Perhaps. Anyway.” Hordak stopped in front of the window and looked out. If he were on a normal planet, he’d probably start to see distant stars at this point of the day. “I landed, injured, with very few resources. I was on my own for months before I managed to make non-violent contact with-“ 

“Non-violent?” Adora asked, “Who did you encounter who was violent?” 

Hordak tried to remember the specific tribes, but honestly there were many, and the names weren’t important. “Independent tribes that used to live where the Fright Zone is now.” He siad. “They don’t technically exist anymore.” 

“They died?” Spinerella asked. 

“No. They joined the Fright Zone eventually and became part of the Horde. I’ll get to that.” He cleared his voice, and turned to glance at Scorpia, “Your great great great grandfather was the leader of the Scorpion Tribe at the time. That was my first non-violent interaction with Etherians.”

“Oooh.” Scorpia said, “That’s why we just worked with you for so long. You know, before joining the Horde Properly.” 

“Yes.” Hordak said. “When I started raising an army, your great great grandfather made a jest that the Scorpion people would join the Horde when the Horde was bigger and stronger than it was. What resulted was…” He frowned as he tried to consider how to phrase this, “A friendly arms race. I won… But I’m getting ahead of myself.” 

He frowned as he looked about the plush, pastel room, “If you think the Fright Zone is militant, it’s opulent compared to what was there before. Small, feuding tribes that fought over basic resources and land. Fought for the means just to survive. You’re lucky this planet doesn’t experience a winter, or many of them would have died. Well, more than already did.” 

“Winter?” Frosta asked. 

“When planets rotate properly around a sun, often they experience seasons.” Hordak said, “Winter is when half the planet is like the Kingdom of Snows.” He shuddered, but Frosta’s eyes went wide with excitement. “But nothing grows then. No food. Most animals hibernate or leave for warmer places, and it gets harder to find resources. In smaller tribal groups, a lot of people freeze or starve to death.” 

Hordak almost felt bad for taking the sparkle out of Frosta’s eyes. “Anyway.” He continued, “Back, then, I didn’t care about taking over. I cared about getting the resources to get off this planet. I had a broken ship, limited access to supplies and information, and a weak grasp of the Etherian language at best. It took...A longer time than I’d have liked to realize that this planet was in Despondos. Well, to confirm it anyway. I suspected the planet wasn’t right, but I had no proof.” 

No proof, but he knew it. A part of him knew it when he looked up at the empty night sky. A part of him dreaded the truth.

“When I figured it out, I realized I’d need a lot more help and a great deal more resources than I had access to in order to get out of Despondos, and I was told of a kingdom with far greater resources than the scorpion people had. BrightMoon.” He glanced at Scorpia again, “Though, your ancestor told me not to go.” 

“Why not?” 

He glanced at Glimmer, then looked away. “Queen Angella ruled then, but she was…” He had many words for what she was, half of them he had already spoken under a truth spell. “Young, Privilaged, Powerful, and mostly beloved by the people she was exposed to-“ 

“She was a brat.” Glimmer said, her eyes shifting away, “She was-“ 

“Young.” Hordak said. “And when I came to BrightMoon out of the blue, without proper introduction, without gifts, with stories of how there was a whole galaxy-“ 

“You said she tried to make her your… fool?” Adora asked. Hordak winced. He had hoped to skip over that, at least in front of Glimmer. 

“She was not impressed with me.” He said.

“What did she do.” Glimmer pressed, looking up at him with determined eyes.

“...She laughed in my face.” He said after a moment of silence. “Mocked me. Tried to have me captured to serve for her amusement because she thought my appearance was comical. She probably also thought I was insane.” He glanced away from her, “So I went back to the Scorpion people, and started work to unify the tribes.”

“How did you do that?” Glimmer asked. She glanced at Entrapta, “You said at that dinner party that most of the conquest was peaceful.” 

“Yup!” Entrapta said, “There was a HUGE wealth disparity between the tribes and BrightMoon. All Hordak had to do was approach the tribes and tell them of what he saw in BrightMoon, and say that if they worked together, they could have that too.” 

“Or at least better than they had.” Hordak added. 

“But… Didn’t they try to kill you?” Adora asked. 

“They did. When I was alone, with no weapons and no grasp on the language. But now, I had allies in the Scorpion people. I made weapons from tech scavaged from my ship. I gathered base materials from Etheria and taught people how to make far better weapons than the ones they had.” He felt his ears perk up with a bit of pride, “I brought scientific innovation to Etheria. Of course, it leaked out of the Fright Zone, and spread to the rest of the planet. Still, none were as advanced in that area as we were…Which you all know.” He turned back, “First thing we needed was better land to grow food on. That meant we needed land from Plumeria. We sent people to try to speak to the leaders of Plumeria at the time, who of course turned us away. So, we took the land we needed through force.” 

“But… I don’t recall anything about the Horde taking our land.” Perfuma said, “I mean, there’s some ugly farmland on one of our edges, but as far as I knew that wasn't ours.” 

Perfuma wasn’t around during those wars. The leaders at the time hadn’t been expecting attack, and the land had been given up easily. From what he understood the land that they took was treated as though it never existed in the first place. A write off. At the time, the idea that Plumeria could let such valuable land go without suffering too much hardship had nearly driven Hordak to rage. 

“Well, the land wasn’t being used.” He said, “So they let it get taken over without too much fighting. It was converted to farmland, and we used as much tech as we could to get the most out of the land to grow bigger, better crops.” He frowned as he looked over the princesses, “Etheria is a small planet, and the land isn’t used well. Once something was taken over we had to focus on efficiency.” He cast a glance at Frosta, “Which is why the ration bars don’t taste as good as the food you’re used to. they’re made for efficiency, not flavor.” 

“Is that when the war really started?” Glimmer asked. “I mean, from what I was told, you just kinda rose out of nowhere and started attacking indiscriminately… Which obviously isn’t right.” 

“It took a few more attacks to get the attention of BrightMoon.” He admitted. “Salinas had to give up some ocean territory after a few decent losses.” He glanced at Entrapta, “Dryl would have proven more troublesome to deal with, but the rulers at that time simply offered up some mines in return for not having to deal with me. Given the landscape, I felt that was an excellent bargain” 

“The mines in Central Dryl have more than enough resources for what we need anyway.” She said almost carelessly. 

“As I said, there wasn’t much fighting with the Kingdom of Snows. I had no interest in going there, there were no resources there, and they were happy enough to stay neutral.” 

He glanced back at his former troops, “Everything west of the Whispering Woods joined the Horde. Crimson Wastes weren’t considered worth takeover - which clearly was a mistake on my part. Beast Island was… Well, I went there once before all this.” He frowned. “It wasn’t pleasant. I decided it wasn’t worth taking. Not that there weren't resources there, but it simply wasn't worth the effort and lives it would take.

The Kingdom of Snows. Beast Island. Both places that Hordak would have cultivated after BrightMoon had fallen. 

“It was after we ended up with Ocean Territory that BrightMoon started taking notice again. I guess at that point Angella realized that I was an actual problem, and started reaching out to other kingdoms. I imagine she wasn’t pleased when ‘lesser’ kingdoms informed her that they were Horde kingdoms now, and when others started refusing to fight me.”

“Then it was war?” Glimmer asked. 

“Then she sent me a missive to stop.” He said. “ I was informed that I was to stop my attacks, or face the ‘wrath of BrightMoon’” He shook his head, “I informed her that I would stop when she knelt at my feet.”

It had been worse than that. Threats of BrightMoon being torn down and built over. Her name wiped from memory, her line stopped. “I… might have been more agressive with my threats at the time.” He said. “I was angry. Spiteful.” 

There was silence. Hordak frowned as he took a moment to consider his words. “Look.” He finally said, “The actual cause - the spark - that started the war was petty and personal. Your mother was...” He hesitated. There were so many words that he wanted to use, but he didn’t want to upset Glimmer further. “Difficult, and I was angry. But a spark doesn’t turn into a fire unless there’s kindling. And there was. Lots. There wouldn’t have been a war if it hadn’t been for the disparity in the living conditions between the magical kingdoms of Etheria, and the tribes.” 

Silence from the princesses and from his former troops as they looked at one another, frowning, thinking. Hordak sighed again. 

“Here’s something you also need to know about war.” He said “Because you’ve all only seen one real war. I’ve seen many. Countless wars. Both sides think they’re right. Both sides think they’re fighting for what’s good, and just.” He shook his head “The reason that the ‘good guys’ always win is because the ones who win are the ones who write the history.” He turned away once more, “So if you’re all trying to decide who’s the ‘good guys’ in this, then stop. There are none. Even when it comes to…” he hesistated, this probably wasn’t good to say. 

“Hordak?” Glimmer asked. 

“Even when it comes to Prime. There are none.” He shot them a quick, firm look before the princesses started talking about how awful Prime was, “Yes. Prime is ruthless. Yes, Prime..” His ears flicked down and he looked away quicky, remembering his outburst about Prime under the truth spell. “Prime uses his clones like tools.” He said carefully. “And Prime would kill most of the resistance. Prime would also open Etheria up to the universe. Prime would introduce technology and advances you can’t imagine. Prime would unify all of Etheria.” He shook his head, “There’s no good side. We’re just fighting for our own interests.” 

“No!” 

Hordak looked back at Adora, his ears twitching in confusion. 

“No?” He asked. 

“Maybe in the future, it’ll be viewed differently,” she said with her eyes narrowed in determination, “But right now, I think we’re fighting for what we think is right. And maybe there is a personal aspect of it.” 

“Yeah” Mermista said, “Not wanting to be dead is pretty personal.” 

“But even outside of that, what Prime’s been doing? It’s not right. And if we just gave up? If we just let him do it?” She shook her head, “We have to do what we think is right!” She frowned at Hordak, “Didn’t you think you were right in what you were doing here? Even if you thought it was personal and petty.” 

Hordak didn’t even have to think, “Of course!” He said, “The state of the tribes compared to the grandeur of BrightMoon-“ 

She cut him off and looked to the princesses, “And didn’t we all fight for what we thought was right? Didn’t Queen Angella think she was doing what was right? I mean, since we’ve all known her anyway.” 

Glimmer nodded, but didn’t speak. 

“Then… Then I think we have to keep doing what we think is right!” She said, “And how Prime treats people? How he treats his own clones like they’re NOT people? That’s not right!” She looked to Glimmer and then to Hordak, “At least Angella and Hordak both treated people like people.” 

“When she grew up. Before that she didn’t” Glimmer muttered. 

“The actions of an ignorant, spoiled, privileged child.” Hordak said simply. “You have probably been the same, if your circumstances were the same.” 

He didn’t know why he was trying to defend Angella. Maybe it was because Glimmer looked so sad and angry.

Glimmer took a deep breath. “I think…” She said slowly. “That I need to talk to mom more. About all that.” She said. “But…” She looked up and around at the others. “If you’ll all support me, then... Then I’ll keep the throne.” She sighed. “It’ll be hard to have that conversation with mom though.” 

Adora put a hand on Glimmer’s shoulder, “We’ll be here for you.” She said, “Well go with you if you want and hopefully she’ll understand.” She glanced up at Hordak. “I...I don’t think she’s the same Angella as she was.” 

“Probably not.” He said. “People change. And war has a way of maturing people.” 


	84. Training

“I see no reason for me to be back here.” Hordak grumbled. He didn’t want to be back in the whispering woods. He had spent more than enough time in what he considered to be the absolute worst part of Etheria and honestly felt like he deserved to be free of the damned place. He glanced around, his ears twitching as he listened for anything that might be dangerous. His wings were not strapped down now- he had managed to develop some control over them, and it was time to get used to having them loose- They were draped over his shoulders, wrapped around his arms. He certainly didn’t have his wings wrapped around him a little more tightly than necessary try to protect himself from any of the awfulness of the woods. 

“Well…” Adora said, “Glimmer is having her talk with her parents today.” 

“I am aware.” He turned his head quickly as something snapped deep in the woods. Entraptal’s hair wrapped around his waist under his wings, giving him a quick squeeze. He took a deep breath, and looked down at her as he allowed a brief smile to flicker over his face. 

“And we need to see Light Hope again so that we can find out about the core of the planet, right?” 

“This is correct.” He said, his ears twitching. 

“And Glimmer needs Bow with her while she’s dealing with her parents. I don’t know anything about the technical parts of this, and would you really want Entrapta to come to the woods alon-“

“No.” Hordak snapped before Adora even finished her sentence. She grinned at him as they continued into the woods.

“Also!” Entrapta said, “Adora said that Light Hope and the Crystal Castle have some mechanisms for advanced training.” She beamed at Hordak, “It’s an ideal way for you to train with your healed body without actually being in danger.” 

“And. without the others seeing how fast you are.” Adora added. 

Hordak nodded. It had been decided that for the time, there was no point in revealing just how fast and strong Hordak was with his body healed. They all knew that the clones were powerful; the other princesses didn’t need to get discouraged by seeing how fast and agile Hordak was now. 

“Still.” Hordak muttered, “I wish it didn’t have to be-“ 

A sudden swarm of some strange, tiny moths swooped down in the dim light of the woods and circled around the three of them before taking off. It only lasted a moment, but Hordak hunched down, his eyes pressed shut and his hands pressed firmly over his ears until the moths had flown off and Entrapta gently pried his hands away from his pinned back ears. 

“Why does this castle have to be in the Whispering Woods.” 

=========

As much as Hordak didn’t want to see Light Hope again - He hadn't forgotten that glorified search engine had just outright told everyone everything it knew about him- He was glad to be inside the castle and out of the woods for the time. 

It hadn’t been that long since he had been here last had it been? It felt like so long ago. Everything had changed since he had been here last. The last time he had entered this castle, he had been Hordak; a defective clone of Horde Prime. 

He wasn’t defective. 

He wasn’t a clone. 

He was Hordak: one of the last individuals of an ancient alien race. Potentially, also the future destroyer of the clones of that same race. 

Entrapta slid her hand into his, and gave his fingers a quick squeeze. He hadn’t noticed that his breathing had hitched in that moment.

“You ok?” Entrapta asked. Adora hurried on ahead, pretending that she couldn’t hear. 

“I’m fine.” He said. 

“You’re lying.” Entrapta said, but she wasn’t angry. 

“I’m fine when all things are taken into consideration?”

Entrapta smiled, and quickly lifted herself up to kiss his cheek. 

Ahead of them, Adora cleared her throat, “We’re here.” She said as she stepped into the chamber where they had seen Light Hope last time. Hordak nodded, took Entrapta’s hand, and went into the chamber. 

“Hey, Light Hope?” Adora called out. There was a moment of static and a hum as the castle came to life. A moment later, Light Hope appeared before them. 

“Welcome back, She-Ra.” Light Hope said. She looked over Adora, then to Entrapta and Hordak. “You have brought friends again.” 

“Yeah.” She said, “We need answers, Light Hope.” 

“What is your query?” 

Adora gestured to Entrapta and Hordak, “Do you guys want to do this.” 

“Oh, Oh, I got it!” Entrapta said, lunging forward on her hair, her fists balled up in excitement. She cleared her throat and waved around her data pad showing various graphs that she had compiled regarding her work on first ones tech. “OK!” She said. “So, There’s a power source at the core of the planet. We didn’t know what it is but we got some information that it could be part of a weapon that the first ones might have used AGES back to try to fight Horde Prime, so NOW since we have to deal with Horde Prime, we want to see if this is something we can maybe use to stop him! We need to know what the nature of the core of the planet is, and how to safely access it! Is it a power source!? Is it the whole weapon!? What does it do exactly??”

Hordak was certain that he saw Light Hope smile. It only lasted a moment, and disappeared as soon as he blinked. Deep, deep down, something didn’t feel right. 

“I can tell you everything you need to know.” 

=====

“This…This doesn’t seem right.” Hordak muttered. “This doesn’t seem useabe.” 

“Well…” Entrapta said as she ran some data on her Data Pad, “More information would be useful. I have an idea where we can get that though.” 

“I know someone too.” Adora said, “But… we need this, don’t we?” She looked at Hordak, “We need a powerful weapon to stop Prime, right?”

Hordak frowned. He knew that they hadn’t been told everything: He could feel it. He glanced at Adora, “Do you not think there’s something strange about it?” 

“I have told you everything you need to know.” LIght Hope said, “Does something not make sense?”

Pointedly, Hordak ignored Light Hope. “They needed a First One to wield the sword to use the weapon. But the first ones are all dead. However, it just happens that an inexplicable portal opened up and dragged you into Etheria-“ 

“You opened the portal.” Adora said, “I mean, I’m guessing now you didn’t mean to drag me into Etheria, but you opened it, and-“ 

Hordak gave Adora along, steady look. “I was incapable of opening a portal.” He said. “I don’t even know how the portal that brought me here worked.” 

“But….” She frowned. “I thought you brought me to -“ 

“My technology picked up strange energy outputs that were similar to what I'd expect to see with the opening of a portal!” Hordak said, “I just wanted to get off this planet. I got there and the portal was gone. There was nothing there.” He glanced aside, “Except for you. I missed my chance.” There was a bitterness to his voice - that disappointment had been harsh for him. The idea that he might have been just moments away from getting off Etheria… 

He felt Entrapta’s hair wrap around him. He gave a sigh. “I suppose it worked out.” 

“So…” Adora frowned, “So… You just found a random baby, and took it?” 

“It was literally the middle of nowhere.” Hordak hissed, “You were alone. If I hadn’t taken you, you would have died.” 

“See, he was kinda sweet even then.” Entrapta said, beaming. 

Hordak felt his ears flick back, “I hardly think that not allowing a baby to die of exposure counts as ‘sweet.’” 

“Ohh, did you ever learn anything about Adora’s portal though?” Entrapta asked. 

“I did track a power burst just before it happened. “He said.” It’s saved on my machines. I glanced at the source, but never found anything, primarily becuase it came from… well, here: the Whispering Woods. That’s why I started trying to get more ground in the woods, but the completion of our portal happened first.” 

Entrapta’s hair puffed up, “Oooh, we could take a look now! With Bright Moon helping us, maybe we can track down the power source.” 

“I am unsure how much that will help our efforts, but I would like to know more about this weapon before we utilize it... And on that note.” He looked to Light Hope, his eyes narrowed. “You haven’t told us what the weapon does.” 

Light Hope was silent for a moment, regarding Hordak.

“Light Hope.” Adora said, “What does the weapon do.” 

“When the weapon is properly activated, and the power channeled through all the runestones, the power will transfer to She-Ra, and be focused through her sword. The resulting power, controlled through the Sword of Power, will create a beam that is absolute antithesis to natural matter… Save for that which is aligned to the First Ones.” 

“What do you mean, “aligned to the first ones.” Hordak demanded. 

“First ones themselves. Those linked to runestones or even gems of power, the planet, and the planets of the First Ones.” 

“... Antithesis?” Adora said. “What does that mean, exactly.” 

“It means.” Hordak said, his fists clenching, “It unmakes it. Probably violently.” 

“Unmakes?” Adora asked. 

“That kinda makes sense.” Entrapta said, putting new data into her datapad, “If we think of all matter as energy, then a power that is the opposite of that energy would destroy that matter. Not in a “BOOM FIRE EVERYWHERE” Explosion, but more like a cancelling out. Like 1 plus Negative 1 is 0.” 

Hordak nodded. “If we could use this weapon.” He said slowly, “Then we could reduce Horde Prime to nothing. Not even nothing. A null value. Tech would remain. Ships would remain. Anything biological would be gone.” He stared at Light Hope. “Is that correct?” 

Light Hope didn’t answer. 

“Light hope?” Adora pressed, “Is what Hordak said true?” 

“That is correct.” Light Hope finally said. 

======

Entrapta finished taking notes on everything that Light Hope had said, then turned to Adora, “OK!” She said, If it’s ok with you two, I”m going to poke around and see if I can find anything interesting while you train.” 

“I think it might not be best to train here.” Hordak said, still eying Light Hope. He didn’t like the AI. He didn’t trust it. 

“This is perfectly safe.” Adora said, “I do it all the time. You can practice without getting hurt, and Light Hope can even set you up to fight other clones.” She turned to Light Hope. “Right?” 

“I can indeed.” She said, “I can access the memories of every being that enters the Crystal Castle. 

“Well, that would have been nice to know ahead of time.” Hordak muttered. 

“Do you want me to train with you?” Adora asked. 

“Oh train with Adora, Hordak.” Entrapta said, “You, Adora, and Huntara worked well in the Crimson Wastes. It might be a good idea to learn to fight the clones together.” 

“Shall I start the simulation?” Light Hope asked. 

Adora looked up to Hordak, “You ready?” 

Hordak took a deep breath. “Fine.” 

“Go ahead, Light Hope.” 

=====

The world shimmered before them, and they were in one of the old, industrial slums of Hextaval. Hordak recognized it as similar to the place where he and DH had found the Perma Frost makers so long ago. It wasn’t exactly the same though. It was more like Light Hope had taken basic images that she had seen, and recreated a place for them to train. The sky above was obscured by the shell that seperated the slums from the finer houses. The old warehouse they were in was falling apart. “ 

“See.” Adora said, “It’s a lot like the training games in the Fright Zone.” 

Hordak looked around, his ears twitching as Adora turned into She-Ra. “Except those don’t reach into your mind and recreate-“ He heard something behind them. There was no time to talk. They turned, and it wasn’t other clones heading towards them, it was a strange species of humanoid with four arms and a long, prehensile tail.

“What are those!” Adora yelled, “Space monsters!” 

“Close.” Hordak said, “Space mobsters.” He drew his claws out. “Ready?” 

“Yup!” She glanced at Hordak, “Want a tank?”

Hordak grinned. There was something comfortable about falling into old combat slang. He was glad he had introduced so many terms early on to his Horde. “That’s wise.” 

Adora charged forward as Hordak leapt up into the broken down metal frames of the decaying building. A fierce wave of her brilliantly illuminated sword startled the aliens, and as they backed up, Hordak landed behind and slashed down their back severing the muscles and tendons that they’d used to climb. 

They fell, and as they disappeared into the darkness below, four more came behind Adora. 

“She’s testing us before she makes it harder.” She siad. “Just keep going.” 

Hordak smiled; It was good to be moving like this again. 

========

The last slew of four armed enemies had been a little much. Thirty-two trained, ruthless underworld warriors had been at them with more advanced weapons than the previous waves of attack Adora was starting to tire, and Hordak was starting to have trouble keeping his wings out of the way. 

“Think…” Adora panted as she caught her breath. Even She-ra had limits, it seemed. “Think we should call it a day?” 

“This is nothing compared to the training I used to do.”Hordak said, equally breathless, “But perhaps since I’m out of practice, it might be best to pace myself in this regard.” 

“Aww, you two are giving up already?” 

Hordak and Adora turned in the direction the voice came from. 

“Catra.” Hordak snarled. 

“Yeah.” Adora said, lifting her sword, “Light Hope likes to test me. Tries to mess with my head. She makes Catra here act real bitchy.” 

“Why so mean, Adora.” She said, taking careful steps forward, “Come on… Let’s have some fun.” 

“It’ll be hard to mess with your head if it’s two of us.” Hordak said. He lunged forward, claws out and ready to rend Catra from tip to tail-

Something hit him from behind. A jolt. It took Hordak a moment to recognize it as the paralyzing strike of a multigun. He fell down, regaining his bearings and grabbing at a metal bar as he pulled himself back up. He heard Adora call out to him, but he didn’t pay her voice any attention because as he pulled himself up to his feet, DH landed before him. 

They still had their ears, but they were pinned back with disgust. The same disgust that they had seen on Horde Prime’s ears so many years ago. Their eyes were narrowed as they stepped forward. “Lord Prime has decreed it.” DH said as they stepped towards Hordak, “That the hordak must die. His failures must be erased.” 

_ The hordak _

Hordak just managed to jump out of the way as the multigun fired again. 

“You’re an illusion.” Hordak said. DH was better with a gun, a far better aim than Hordak had ever been, but Hordak was far more agile, far more nimble. He leapt to a nearby bar to get some distance from DH, then grabbed another nearby one, climbing back up towards Adora. 

Another multigun hit caught him mid jump. Hordak was thrown back, landing on a nearby platform as the electricity ran through his body. 

“You think that, do you?” DH said, “You think Lord Prime wouldn’t have found this place? Didn’t see right through your plots with the little princesses of this world?” They tilted their head, “Because of you, Horde Prime will seek his vengeance upon this world. He will erase all the princesses. Especially Princess Entrapta.” 

“You’re not DH.” Hordak hissed. His breathing caught. He felt like something was tightening around his neck. He reached up but he couldnt feel anything. It felt like the skin itself was too tight. 

“I am not.” DH said. “I am 70H67.” They pointed their multigun, which suddenly glowed red with a lethal shot. “And you are a mistake.” 

He couldn’t move. He felt dizzy. He couldn’t breath. He started gasping for breath.

“Light Hope! Stop it!” 

The world faded around Hordak. The old, abandoned warehouses of Hextaval were replaced with the crystal walls of the castle.

Hordak sat on the floor, doubled over as he desperately gasped for breath while Adora called out for Entrapta. 

  
  



	85. Fear

Hordak couldn’t breathe. 

Adora had rushed off to find Entrapta. She had said…. something? Hordak wasn’t sure. He couldn’t breathe. He wanted to get out of the Crystal Castle, but all that was outside was the Whispering Woods-

-Crash. Brains. Implants. Ears-

-and he didn’t want to be in the whispering woods either. He’d have to enter the woods to get out of the woods, which seemed almost funny to him. He’d have laughed if it didn’t hurt so much just to breath, if it didn’t feel like something was pressing up against his throat. He lifted his hand to check that there was nothing there, then started to pull on the skin at his throat. He didn’t understand, but maybe the skin was too tight. Maybe these attacks caused some kind of expansion, and he hoped if he could just make this tightness go away he’d feel better. 

“That wasn’t them.” He muttered to himself. He leaned against the wall, his wings wrapped tightly around himself. No, he knew it wasn’t; seeing DH like that wasn’t what was bothering him now. No, what was bothering him was that the hologram had been right. 

It was only because of him that Prime was here. It didn’t matter what he was doing now, if he hadn’t been building that portal, if he ended up in Etheria, if he had been better, this wouldn’t have happened. 

Not a clone. He knew that. But if he had been better then he’d not have been outcast. DH wouldn’t be stuck in a robot body. Prime wouldn’t even know that Etheria existed here, and Entrapta would be safe. 

It wasn’t his fault. He wasn’t a clone. The clones were made for the Horde. He had not been. Still, that didn’t matter.

He tried to focus. He tried to do the exercises that Perfuma had suggested, but all he could hear was his own breathing and distant yelling in the hallways of the Crystal Castle. All he could feel was the hard wall against his back, and the sensation that his chest was about to collapse. He could taste blood from where he had bitten his tongue. 

None of this helped to calm him. He tried to convince himself that none of it was his fault. He had simply ENDED UP here. He was here now, and he was helping. He could fight. He could make a difference. He could protect Entrapta. He could help DH

It was like his mind was trying to make him panic more. It reached out and grabbed a new, terrifying thought. 

_ Unless you have a panic attack in the middle of combat. Real combat. Not just a hologram.  _

He started gasping as tears of panic and pain started to burn at his eyes. 

========

It had taken Adora long, agonizing minutes to find Entrapta, who was collecting valuable readings from the control panels of Light Hope’s systems. When Adora found her and told her what happened, she dropped her Data Pad and rushed off, leaving Adora behind to run to catch up. 

She found Hordak gasping, curled up as he leaned against the wall. He looked like he was staring off into nowhere. Without slowing her pace she slid up to him, and wrapped her hair around him, whispering in his low, twitching ears, stroking his hair. She gently wiped the tears from his face, and held him close, squeezing him as gently and as tenderly as she could. She removed her gloves, and started to rub the back of his neck. 

This worked. Entrapta had a hypothesis- one that was quickly gaining traction- that touch was important in Chilacians, especially skin on skin. Hordak always seemed calmer when she was touching him, and the bit of data she had found in the C.D suggested that pack bonds were solidified by touch.

Made sense. Pair bonding was based on touch. Well, more than touch but that was also a very different, very permanent type of bond. 

Hordak stilled. His breathing was still quick, but he wasn’t gasping. He was still staring off into space, but he wasn't’ clutching at himself like he had been. Entrapta managed to crawl under his wings, and leaned into him, continueing her whispering. It was about then that Adora caught up. 

“I know I shouldn’t have left him alone.” She said, panicked, “But I didn’t know what to do, and I knew he’d need you!” She looked at Hordak, “Should we get him outside?” 

“He hates the Whispering Woods.” Entrapta said firmly. She thought for a moment, then said, “Get Light Hope to project a cave.”

“A cave?” 

“A nice, big, dim cave.” 

“.. Light Hope!” Adora called out, “Can you project a cave?”

“Technically, the whole of Crystal Castle is a cave.” Came back Light Hope’s cold voice, “Created by crystal formations-“ 

“A plain, rock cave!” Adora snapped. “Big and Dim!” 

“Maybe the steam grotto at Mystacor.” Entrapta suggested, “And if she doesn’t have that, she can pull it from my head!” There was a hint of bitterness to Entrapta’s voice which Adora wasn’t used to hearing. 

“Can you do that, Light Hope?” 

Light Hope was silent for a moment. Then the world shimmered, and they were in the caves of Mystacor.

=====

Hordak was starting to calm down. His breath was coming easier, and the world around him was starting to come into focus. Everything had seemed to fade from reality when he was in the middle of the panic attack, but when Entrapta had come up to him, held him, and started scratching the back of his neck, then at the very least she was there. 

He clutched at her and held her close. Something to hold onto in the spinning unreality that he had been cast in. The reality where he felt too big and too small at the same time. The reality where it felt like he could see everything, but took in nothing. 

Then he was back. It felt like he slowly settled into his body, and his mind was trying to work again. He looked around and saw the caves of the steam grotto. 

“Where…” 

“We’re still in the Crystal Castle.” Entrapta said as she gave him a tight squeeze, “You’re ok. I’m here. It’s fine.” 

“It’s not ok.” He muttered. Nothing was ok. No wonder he had been cast out. Forget that he was a clone, this was a real problem!

“What if this happens again.” He whispered. 

“We deal with it then.” 

“What if this happens in combat?” He shook his head, “What if I do have to face DH. Everything he said was true. Everything-“ 

“What did DH say?” Entrapta asked. 

Hordak could only shake his head. 

“Hordak.” 

“It’s all my fault.” He whispered into her hair as he leaned forward, “All my fault. If you get hurt, it’s my fault.” 

“That’s not true.” Entrapta said. He could pick up a hint of a whimper in her voice. Great. He had managed to make her upset again. 

Useless. He was so damn useless. 

“Here.” 

He hadn’t noticed that Adora was there. He didn’t know how long she had been there, and felt his ears flick down in shame at how he was acting as he glanced up to see Adora holding out a water bottle to him. 

“I… I didn’t know if you’d want water or anything.” 

Entrapta’s hair took the water bottle from Adora. She sat up properly, detangling herself from Hordak gently as she twisted off the top and gave it to him. 

“Come on.” She said, “This might help.” 

He took it gratefully and drank long gulps, trying to focus on the fresh cool water going down his throat. Entrapta still had her hair around him, a hand on his. He was starting to calm down properly. The tightness in his throat was leaving, and his breathing was starting to come back to him normally. 

“That DH.” Adora said, crouching down next to Hordak and Entrapta, “That wasn’t real. Light Hope likes to….” she glanced aside, “Likes to test people.” 

“What did the hologram say.” Entrapta said, her voice low and angry. Even adora seemed taken aback by that, and shuffled away from her slightly. 

“It.. it called Hordak, ‘the hordak.’” She said, “And… and said all kinds of stuff about how-“ 

“It’s my fault.” Hordak muttered as he finished with the water. He was calmer now, and he didn’t need Adora speaking for him. “That I’m here. That I’m helping you. And because of that, he’ll kill everyone.” He glanced up at Entrapta, “Especially you.” 

Adora leaned against the wall, looking down the hallway and away from Hordak, “Light Hope gets into your mind.” She said, “She says it’s to make me stronger. Make me ready for anything.” She shook her head, “She likes to try to present you with your worst case scenario. The things you fear, or the things you’re worried about.”

“You should have said that!” Entrapta said. 

“I didn’t think she’d do it to Hordak!” She said, “She mostly does that to me because I’m She-Ra, and I have to be strong!” 

“You are strong.” Hordak found himself snapping. “You were trained by the Horde. You were a Force Captain!” Rage was starting to pick up inside him, which probably wasn’t great but it was so much better than feeling helpless. “This isn’t training, this is…”He faltered. “Torture.” 

“Hordak?” Adora asked, turning to him. 

“Facing your fears is one thing, but having your face pushed into them is another entirely… though.” He frowned. “Though… it might have been for the best in this situation.” 

“What do you mean, Hordak?” Entrapta asked, “This wasn’t good, this-“ 

“What if this happens in real combat.” He said again. “What if Horde Prime does something, and causes me to be like this in combat?” He snarled and looked away, “I’d be useless. I wouldn’t even be able to think. I wouldn’t be able to protect you.” 

“If something was happening to Entrapta-“ Adora said, “I think that, panic attack of no, you’d go all-“ She lifted up her hands to imitate claws, and contorted her face to try to look like a snarling animal. She didn’t quite get it, and the mock screech she tried to give was almost comical. 

Despite himself, Hordak felt a smile flicker across his lips. 

“-you know. All angry beast Hordak.” 

Hordak looked away, suppressing a grin. Slowly he pulled himself to his feet. Entrapta still had her hair around him, and watched him carefully as he stood. Once he was up, she slipped her hand into his. 

“Want to go home?” She asked. 

“I… “ he hesistated. “Did you get everything you needed?” 

Entrapta looked at Hordak, blinking in confusion for a moment before her eyes widened with horror. 

“OH NO! I dropped my Data pad back in the consol center!” 

“Go get it.” Hordak said, “You’ll be faster without me, and then we can leave.” 

“You're sure?” 

Hordak took a deep breath, “I’m calm.” He said. “I can manage a few minutes.” 

Entrapta hesitated for just a moment, trying to decide if she should leave, then rose herself up, kissed him on the lips, and then zoomed off to find her data pad. “Ill be right back!” She promised as she went out of sight. 

It took Hordak a moment to realize that Adora was grinning. He looked away, feeling his ears flick down and flush slightly as he recalled her presence not just with Entrapta just then, but at the very beginning of his panic attack. At how he was when he clutched at Entrapta like a child. 

He cleared his throat. He should say something. Apologize, perhaps, for cutting their training short. 

“Sorry.” Adora said before he could even start speaking, “I shouldn’t have brought you here.” 

“You… what?” He asked, confused. 

“I should have known that Light Hope would have done something like that.” She said, “She does it to me all the time-“ 

“You don’t have panic attacks.” He muttered. 

“No…no, I don’t. I-“ She glanced aside, “I have nightmares. Bad ones.” She was quiet for a moment, then flushing said, “I’ve started sleeping with a light on. Not because I’m afraid of the dark though!” She shook her head, “I wake up, and if it’s dark, I can’t see and it takes me longer to realize that the nightmare was just a nightmare.” 

“Because of this training?” 

“Because… Because of a lot of things.” She shook her head, “I should have thought to warn you at least about Light Hope’s training.” 

Silence between then. Hordak cleared his throat again. 

“You are strong.” He said simply. His tone was straightforward, a statement of fact. It invited no discussion or debate.

“Yeah… well so are you.” She said. She looked aside. “You… You wanna know when I thought you were really strong? I didn’t in the moment, a lot was happening, but looking back, you want to know the moment I think you were your strongest? Your bravest?” 

Hordak didn’t answer, he only raised a brow. 

“When we could you and Entrapta on Beast Island.” She said, “And you just…. Just surrendered to save Entrapta.” She shook her head, “That was.. well at the time, given everything it was kinda weird to me. But looking back? You didn’t know what we’d do with you. You weren’t in any condition to defend yourself. You just gave up so Entrapta’d be ok. I think that was one of the bravest, strongest things I’ve seen.” 

Hordak felt the flush burn at his cheeks and ears as he looked away. He was used to praise from Entrapta, but not from anyone else. He didn’t know how to respond. 

Thankfully, he didn’t have to. Entrapta Came back from where she was, bounded into Hordak, and wrapped her hair around him. 

“OK! Got my data pad!” She said, beaming, “And It didn’t break when I dropped it, so all the data is still good!” 

Adora stifled a laugh at how Entrapta ran into Hordak, then started walking, “Let’s go home then.” She said.


	86. Time

On the tail of his panic attack, walking through the Whispering Woods was a nerve wracking experience. He was jumpier than normal. Every flicker that he saw out of the corner of his eyes caused him to jump. At one point, Entrapta had her hair gently caress the back of his neck while Adora wasn’t looking, and even that had startled him. 

Of course, the moment he realized it was just Entrapta, he calmed down. It didn’t make up for the slightly pitched, startled yelp that he gave in the moment. It didn’t help that because of that yelp, Adora jumped, took out her sword, and transformed. She was poised, ready to stop whatever it was that was attacking only to turn and see Entrapta’s hair puffed out, and Hordak standing there, wide eyed with his ears limp and blue from the flush that crossed his face. 

There were many improvements to his life since he had been healed: blushing in the face was not one. 

“Uh… Are we under attack?” Adora asked. 

“No.” Hordak hissed, trying to ignore how his face felt like it was going to burn off, “I was simply startled.” 

“Oh…” She said. She cleared her throat, and turned back to normal. “Sorry. Thought we were under attack.” 

He hated this. It hadn’t been this bad last time he was here. Was this all getting worse? Had this panic attack been worse than the one he had when he was here last? 

_ Maybe you’re just weak.  _ An unbidden voice in his head said,  _ Maybe you can’t deal with this on your own anymore because you’re not on your own anymore. You’re relying on people too much. They’ll get sick of it.”  _

He shook his head, and gently clutched at Entrapta’s hair. She looked up at him, and gave him a big, beaming smile. 

“We’ll be on the transport soon.” She promised. 

She smiled back down at her, but didn’t respond. 

He’d need to find a way to deal with this. 

================

Hordak started feeling better as soon as they got into the transport, and the further away from the whispering woods they got, the better He felt. Of course, the fact that Entrapta insisted on sitting on his lap as she went over the data she got from Light Hope didn’t hurt. Adora’s eyes were focused on the skies ahead of her as she flew, but every now and then he caught her glance back at them, caught the flicker of a smile as she watched him and Entrapta. 

“There’s so much extra data that we could access in the Crystal Castle!” Entrapta said, showing her datapad to Hordak, “Now, the bad news is that a LOT of it is behind a firewall. I could probably get through it, but I didn’t want to risk it while you guys were dealing with Light Hope. Training and stuff. The bad news though is that the data seems to be organized specifically for Light Hope, and operate on personal keywords for her. It’d be difficult for us to find what we need on our own. I mean, not impossible but-

He could listen to her for hours. Even if the information she was giving him was a tad troubling - hidden data, unknown variables, and alternative power sources- just the sound of her voice was enough to soothe him. 

“So if we want all that data, then we have two options!” Her hair pointed up into the air, “First, I can hack into the Crystal Castle, and get the information out myself. This of course means we have everything at our fingertips. HOWEVER-“ She frowned, “There’s a possibility that Light Hope could be actually damaged in the process if the data isn’t copied correctly. Also Light Hope’s security systems would likely try to stop us, and of course then theres the tangled knot of files and resources I’d have to work through. I mean, It’d be FUN…. But we’re on a time limit.” Her hair drooped down as she said the final part. 

“And option two?” Hordak asked

“Get Light Hope to tell us what we need on her own.” 

Adora scoffed, “Good luck with that.” She said, “She never tells me exactly what I need.” 

Hordak frowned and gave a low, thoughtful hum as he considered something.

“Hordak? You have an idea?” 

“I have a thought.” He said, “But it might not be a good plan.” 

“That’s great.” Adora said with a chuckle, “The best plans I’ve worked with since I got here have been awful plans from the outset.” She glanced back at Hordak, “What’s your idea?” 

Hordak hummed. The idea was still forming, still taking shape. “If we want to keep Light Hope as a resource to use, but she won’t cooperate… She is just an AI. I could maybe reprogram her.”

“Reprogram her to do what?” 

Hordak shook his head, “I don’t know yet.” He said. “It depends on how she was made and-“ He stopped and shook his head, “It’s complicated. Unless I know the system I’m looking for, I can’t make a plan for it. I’d need to take a good look at LIght Hope’s. head, essentially. If going for her memory files would cause her security system to attack us, then I have no doubt that….”

Hordak trailed off. He suddenly felt like his idea was the best idea he could have come up with. Not because it was safe; it wasn’t. Not because it was clever; it wasn’t. Not because it was simpler: it definitely wasn’t. 

No. It suddenly seemed like the best plan because Entrapta was currently looking at him with her eyes big and wide, and her hair puffed out all over. 

“I’D LOVE TO POKE AT A FIRST ONE’S AI!” She exclaimed. 

“Couldn’t that fry Light Hope?” Adora asked. 

“Possibly.” Hordak responded. 

“What’s a little danger in the face of scientific discovery!” Entrapta said, “Imagine all the things we could learn!” 

“She does have a point.” Hordak said as the unformed plan still swirled in his head. “Any data we could get might help us against Horde Prime.” 

“Even if we don’t fry Light Hope, We might cause her some discomfort.” Entrapta said. She looked up at Hordak who was a little surprised to see that she had an almost hopeful look in her eyes. “Do you think Light Hope has been programmed to feel pain?” 

Hordak knew that Entrapta liked robots and tech more than she liked humans. They were more human to her, and even Hordak found it difficult not to see the human-like characteristics of the bots she befriended or made. She was always so animated and so kind. Always willing to meet a new robot. 

For the first time, Hordak considered that there was some tech on Etheria that Entrapta did not like. 

================

There was an obvious, quiet tension as the three of them landed at Bright Moon.They didn’t know how the conversation between Glimmer and her parents had gone. Would there be guards there to drive off Hordak? Would Glimmer be there? Angella? Micah? Would Glimmer be upset?

Well, they could at least see Bright Moon was still standing as they approached and landed, so Hordak’s worst case scenario wasn’t a concern. 

Hordak stepped out of the transport as though he was stepping onto a bridge of rotted wood. He looked around, and released a breath: there were no guards, No destruction, No Angella, No Micah. 

Just Queen Glimmer, standing and waiting for them. 

“I’m surprised you’re out to meet us.” Hordak said. “I thought you’d be busy.” He raised a brow in an unspoken question.

“Hey Glimmer! How did it go with your mom and dad?” Entrapta said.

Glimmer laughed nervously and looked away, “Uh... it was a little odd.” She said. “Dad’s a little… Well, he’s coming around.” She laughed and looked up at Hordak, “I might have gone on about how... you know. You saved me in the whispering woods, and hurt your ears. And about the clone in the dead zone. Just uh… Gave him a rundown of, you know, everything.” 

She was rambling. She was nervous. Hordak frowned, “And your mother?” He asked, “Did you tell her that you weren’t giving the throne back to her.” 

“I -uh- don't’ think that’s a problem.” She said. “I mean, I did tell her…. but-“ 

Hordak frowned, “But?”

“Uh… well, first she said, ‘Oh! It’s this one again!’ And then she called me Archet like, three times?” She frowned and looked to Adora, “Do I know an Archet?” 

“No…” Adora said, frowning as she took a step forward. 

“And... but then she seemed like she understood that I was keeping the throne? Or like she expected it?” 

Hordak took a deep, deep breath. He was certain that everything was fine. He looked at Glimmer, “And…Did you inform her I’d be staying and helping?” 

“That’s… That was one of the weirder parts. I told her that you’d be staying in Bright Moon. I showed her and dad the papers we signed when you surrendered…” She looked away again and laughed nervously, “Dad was kinda flabbergasted at it all. I mean, once I told him everything. I should have told him you were helping us in the first place, but I didn’t so he attacked when he saw you. Anyway, he just kind of looked at the paper, listened to the stories and was just more shocked than anything. He said that you surrendered to me, so -“ 

“And your mother?” Hordak said. 

Glimmer stopped talking, then looked up confused. 

She asked, ‘Oh, is he visiting then? He’d best stay here if he’s visiting!” 

Hordak blinked. “Pardon?” He said after a moment. 

“Yeah! And then she asked if the kitchens had enough strawberries-“ She frowned, “I didn’t tell her anything about what you ate. She was asking about smoothies and-“ 

Hordak gave a sigh. “I think I know what’s happened.” He said. He shook his head, “Take me to her.” 

=============

“What are you doing here!” Micah said as Hordak entered the room where Angella was currently knitting on what looked like baby clothes. 

“Same thing I’ve been doing for the last few weeks.” Hordak growled, “Helping.” He took a chair from a nearby table, dragged it forward, and sat directly in front of Angella. She flicked her eyes up, and to his surprise, she smiled at him. 

“Oh, you came after all.” She said. Her eyes flicked to his wings, “I’m so glad you kept your wings in this one.” 

“See!” Glimmer said, “She keeps saying this one, or-“ 

Hordak held up a hand to silence Glimmer. “Apologies, Queen Glimmer.” He said, determined not to give Micah any reason to snap at him, “I need a minute.” 

There was silence. Hordak nodded and tilted his head at Angella. 

“Right.” He said, “How often don’t I have my wings?” 

“Oh I’d say about half the time.” She said as she looked back down to her knitting. 

“What are you knitting?” 

“A baby’s onesie.” She said, holding it up. “Just in case. 

“Will a baby be likely enough to need to make this?” 

“Oh yes! Eventually. Maybe.” She stopped and frowned at her stitches, “I should reinforce this so it doesn’t get that rip.” 

Hordak nodded, “Right.” He said, “Well, I’ll be with Entrapta. Here. In BrightMoon. At the Invitation of your daughter, Queen Glimmer.” He looked carefully at her, checking to make sure she understood him.

“Of course.” She said, “Just make sure to close the window.” 

“So what’s going on!” Micah demanded. 

Hordak got up and replaced the chair, hoping that the slight flush over his face wasn’t obvious. “She’ll be fine.” He said. 

“How do you know.”

Hordak frowned. “It’s…. the best way to describe it is to just say that it’s ‘portal sickness’.” 

“You can get sick from being in a portal?” Entrapta asked. 

“There’s a low chance, but it increases with time. I’ve seen it before though.” Of course he had seen it before. When you’re sending hundreds of thousands of soldiers through portals, you’d have to see it at least once. 

“What does that mean!” Micah said, “How do we cure her!” 

“You don’t. It just wears off.” 

“What is it though?” Glimmer demanded, “What’s wrong with her.” 

Hordak frowned, his brows knitting together. “In short? She’s experiencing the futures. “

“Future?” Glimmer asked. 

“No, Futures. Plural. You see-“ 

“Oh! Right! You mentioned multiverse theory!” She beamed as she turned to Glimmer, “ Countless universes splitting one by one based on decisions and random chance, on yes and no! Existence itself splitting into pieces each and every-“ 

“Entrapta?” Glimmer said, “In Etherian, please?” 

“Oh. Sorry. Uh. Multiple dimensions for every choice that happens.” 

“Imagine.” Hordak said, “At this moment, there exists a universe separate from yours in which - “ He fumbled for an example, “Adora isn’t She-Ra, Catra is. Or one where Bright Moon is on the other side of the planet. One where the planet isn’t in despondos. One where I have green eyes.” he looked to Glimmer, “an infinite number of universes with an infinite number of possibilities.” 

“And.. what does that have to do with my mom?” 

“Well… Imagine the passage of time like a road.” He said, “One that breaks off into two directions frequently. At each fork in the road, you have to choose a path to take. Those other paths all still exist, but you don’t experience them.” 

“Ok?” 

“Now. When you enter a portal...” he hesitated. This was heavy science, and it was science that even Hordak had trouble verbalizing. “Portals warp all energy around it, and the space between exists through all time at once, through all instances of itself through all realities. Now, when you travel through a portal, you’re exposed to that power and…If you’re not careful, it’s like staring at the sun. When you look away, you can still see it.” He pointed to Angella, “She’s currently still seeing the sun.” 

“What do you mean?” Micah demanded, “Can’t you make sense?” 

“... You’re a mage,and you’re asking me to make sense?” Hordak said, crossing his arms as his brow quirked up. Glimmer gave him a pleading look, and he sighed. 

“I mean, Angella is currently seeing all of her futures from this point to the end of her life. Of course, a time-locked mind can’t perceive all of that, so it compartmentalized. It shows flashes, or overlaps similar moments in a person’s life. 

“You’re saying she’s seeing the future?” Micah asked. 

“All futures.” Hordak said, “So I don’t recommend taking anything she says seriously right now.” 

“But if it’s the future, we can use that to stop this Horde Prime, right?” Micah said, taking a step forward. 

“It’s all possible futures.” Hordak said, “we don’t know what one we’re in, which path we’re going to take.” He frowned at the former queen, “And she won’t be in any position to tell us. Not in a way that makes sense.” 

He started walking to the door. “The good news.” Hordak said as he continued, “Is that even in cases where someone got lost in a portal, when they were retrieved the sickness only lasted a few days.” Entrapta was at his side, already punching new data into her data pad.

“That’s fascinating!” Entrapta gushed as she worked, “I wouldn’t mind getting some more data until she recovers.” 

“But… you’re sure she won’t stay like this?” Micah said. Hordak turned, and for once saw that Micah’s face wasn’t contorted with anger and rage, but was filled with panic and concern. 

What if it were Entrapta like that, he wondered. If something of a magical nature happened to Entrapta, leaving her in this state, would he just take Micah’s word for it? Would that keep him from worrying? 

No. He’d be terrified. And if he had just found Entrapta after being seperated for such a long time….

Hordak took a deep breath, and did his best to soften his gaze. “I have never heard of a situation where it’s permanent.” He promised. “Someone would have to break through a lot of portals for that to happen.” 

  
  
  
  



	87. Plans

DH: So how was your day? You mentioned earlier that you were going to a ‘Crystal Castle’?

T1: I despise the Crystal Castle. I despise the Whispering Wood. 

DH: The Castle was in the Whispering Woods? Why would you go back there!

Hordak sighed as he looked over the words on the screen before him. He had avoided running Into DH’s physical body in Bright Moon - he didn’t necessarily want Prime to know about the wings yet- But he had to talk to DH. 

He also wanted to. He had forgotten how much he had missed just talking to after he was stranded in Etheria. It wasn’t often that he had been able to put much energy into anything but survival, but there had been times when he looked up at the dark, empty Etherian sky when things were quiet and... 

Well, back then he had chided himself for being weak. Foolish. Distracted. He had just missed his friend. 

He frowned. Friend. He had never called DH his friend back when they were working together. Back when DH was his second in command. 

T1: You do realize that you’re my friend, yes?

DH: Where did that come from? 

Hordak felt his ears flush. Should he not have said that? 

DH: I mean, I’m happy to have you as a friend, but you never say things like that. Did something happen?

Entrapta came up behind Hordak and leaned in, pecking him on the cheek. “How are you feeling?” She asked.

“I’m well. Just about to ask DH about the plan.” Hordak said. 

“Perfect!” She said, her hair puffing up all around her, “Maybe They’ll have a better idea for you!” 

Hordak nodded, his fingers hovering over the keys. “Maybe.” He said.

“I’m going to finish sorting out the pieces we got from the Crimson Wastes, BUT!” She squeezed Hordak from behind, “Do you want a smoothie? Or anything to eat? I’m going to sneak into the kitchens.” 

“I… Yes.” He said as he looked back at Entrapta, “Yes. That would be nice. I doubt you have to sneak down though.” 

Her hair wrapped around him, and gently caressed the side of his cheek, “Are you sure you’ll be ok while I’m gone?” She asked. Hordak couldn’t help but pick up the faint hint of concern in her voice. 

She was worried about him. He felt his ears flick down at his own stupidity. She had been more touchy since they got back, she had made sure to stay closer to him, to touch him maybe a little more than she normally would have. 

And of course she was worried about him. Hadn’t she just seen him fall apart back in the Crystal Castle. 

He took a deep breath. “I will be fine.” He said. 

She waited for a moment, then turned his face to her, kissed him, then went to the balcony and disappeared over the ledge. Hordak listened carefully, making sure she didn’t fall, then went back to the computer. 

T1: It was a hard day. There’s an AI in the castle that is troublesome. 

DH: But you like AIs!

T1: I am interested in AIs. I like creating them. I dislike this one. 

Hordak’s fingers’ hovered over the keyboard, hesitating for a moment before he led up to his next question. 

T1: We may have access to a weapon. POssibly one that Horde Prime had encountered in the past. One that caused him trouble. 

DH: On this planet??

T1: That’s a long story, but the problem is that if I just use the weapon, then he’ll go to his backup body.

DH: Right. Horde Prime has backups and fail safes and all kinds of plans; I don’t even know them all. They’re very well hidden. 

T1: Right. TO properly stop him, I’d have to destroy the curren body, and the backup. That means going through Prime’s Army. 

DH: It does. And they won’t just surrender. If they’re defending Prime, they’d fight you to the death. 

Another sigh as he hovered his fingers over the keyboard. His breathing was starting to speed up, and he could feel that strange tightness around his neck. 

Imp jumped on his shoulder, and leaned against his head, rubbing. Hordak frowned, and looked at him, his ears twitching in surprise. 

“... Are you nuzzling me?” Hordak asked, incredulous. To his surprise, Imp’s little ears flushed as he screeched at Hordak. He half expected Imp to fly away, but to his surprise he continued nuzzling. 

Hordak reached up and gently scratched at the back of Imp’s neck. “Thanks.” He muttered before he went back to typing. 

T1: what if I had a weapon that could stop all the clones. All the clones across the universe. Or at least, any with a chip. 

DH: How would it stop them?

T1: It’s not a weapon so much. I got my hand on one of the chips, and pulled it apart. I think I can create a virus that would make it overhead. 

DH: …. where it’s located, if it overheats properly then it’ll fry the Medula. 

T1: I know. It’ll kill them. All of them. Every clone

DH: you’re right. It’ll kill every clone with a chip. 

T1: Please tell me you have a better idea. 

The screen was blank for a long time. Hordak reached up to scratch behind Imp’s ears as he waited and time seemed to drag out painfully as he waited for DH’s response. 

DH: If you send me the virus, I can see that it gets to every implant in the universe. It’ll be faster than any idea you have to making it spread, and more effective. 

Hordak’s stomach dropped as they read the words before them. 

T1: You’re ok with that? Every clone. Even ones like you and me. 

DH: T1, I don’t have an implant. I am, however, very aware of what they do. If you were to disable them, then clones would still attack. They wouldn’t even notice that Horde Prime didn’t have access to their minds.

Hordak leaned forward and pressed his hands to his face. He was really going to do this. He was going to kill every clone in the known universe. He was going to wipe out his own species!

Imp pulled at his hair. Hordak grunted in pain, then caught the new blinking words on the screen before him. 

DH: …. Not an alternative, but perhaps a less drastic option: and not one you could do on your own. 

T1: What?

DH: send me the virus. Yes, I can put it in the implant of every clone in the universe, OR I can just make sure it gets delivered to the implants of every clone in Etheria, and every clone on Horde Prime’s command ships. Any clone that might get between you and Horde Prime’s backup body. 

The command ship. There were still a lot of clone on board that, but it was a much better option than every clone in the universe. 

DH: also, I think you’re forgetting something. 

T1: What’s that. 

DH: This will only affect every clone with an implant. T1, the babies don’t have implants. 

========

When Entrapta appeared on the balcony a little later with smoothies carried carefully in her hair, Hordak nearly knocked her over with how quickly he ran up to her. He got to his knees so he was closer to her height, and held her close as he told her everything. 

IN part, he knew that he was babbling, but he didn’t care. He was so relieved. This wasn’t ideal, but in war people died; that was just the truth of it. 

Still, with DH’s help, there would be so much less death. 

“Hordak?” Entrapta said. The smoothies were set down nearby, and she wrapped her hair and her arms around Hordak. “Are you ok? What’s wrong.” 

“Nothing.” Hordak finally managed to say, slowing his breathing. “Nothing’s wrong. DH has a plan. DH has a plan. Not every clone has to die.” 

It was such a relief. He had steadied himself against the possibility of what he’d have to do. He had prepared himself as much as he could. Now that he didn’t have to do it, now that he knew that he didn’t have to kill off his entire race…

Now he was allowing himself to see just how much he hated that idea, and how that would haunt him. 

“Hordak!” Entrapta squeezed him tightly, her hair wrapping around under his wings. “I’m so SO relieved.” She said as she pressed her face into him. It was only then that he realized that she was crying. 

“... Entrapta?” 

“I didn’t want to kill them all.” She said. “None of us did.” 

“None of us?” 

“Oh. Us. Me and the other princesses.” She pulled away from him and wiped the tears from her eyes, “We didn’t like the idea of killing them all. Most of them agreed that it’s not their fault, but.” She looked up at him, “I… I just didn't want you to hurt.” 

“I’d have done it.” He muttered against her hair. “For you, I’d have done it. If there was no other way.” 

“I know.” She whispered. “I know.” 

Entrapta gave a weak laugh and rubbed away the last of her tears, “It’s been a day, I guess.” She said. Hordak nodded. It had been a very long day. It wasn't even dark yet, and it had been a long, horrible day. 

At least it was ending well. 

“Know what I think you need!” Entrapta said, her voice suddenly back to it’s excitable tone. Hordak held back a laugh at her sudden shift in tone. 

“What do you think I need.” 

“A nice, long, hot bath.” She said, “Maybe while you drink your smoothie? And I wash your hair? Oh!” She beamed, “with lots of bubbles too! OH, and we can listen to some of the music on your data pad! And then we can lay in bed and go over some more of the documents from the disc that Bow gave you-“ 

Before Hordak could really give much input, he was pulled back into the room by Entrapta’s hair. She pulled them to the massive bathroom and started running the hot water in the giant tub, adding bubbles and herby-smelling soaps with her hair as she pulled her clothes off and helped Hordak out of his own dress. 

“I can undress my-“He started, but she shushed him. 

“I know you can, but I want to, and you still have trouble with the wings.” Hordak didn’t answer. He looked away, his ears flushed blue. “I had to help you get unstuck from your dress just this morning!” She continued, “Because you got your wing and your arm stuck.” 

Hordak felt the rest of his face burn as she brought that up. He had almost (thankfully) forgotten about that! It hadn’t been his finest, more elegant moment to have Entrapta come out of the bathroom to see him stuck in his own clothes, still naked from the waist down and struggling to free himself without ripping the fine clothing that Morgana had fixed. 

“Very well.” He finally said, looking away, “You can help, if you want.” 

She finished undressing him, and they relaxed in the hot, steamy tub, leaning against one another at first as they listened to the music from disc, enjoying the sound of the strange vocalizations that played out. 

Entrapta was at his side in a hot, steamy bath. He was listening to good music. DH had come up with a better plan than Hordak had - or at least DH had improved on his own plan. 

He allowed himself to lean against Entrapta and sink into the water. Despite everything, he was willing to call this a good day.


	88. Science

“We have a new plan.” Hordak said as he stood before the other princesses, “Well. An improved plan.” 

They had gathered back into their makeshift meeting room. They didn’t really need to be in hiding today: DH - Or rather, RDH as Hordak was thinking of them; Robotic DH- was with Spinerella and Netossa today. They had volunteered to have the first welcoming ceremony in their kingdoms since they were hardest to get to and would require a few days of travel. 

Apparently, Spinerella’s kingdom was atop a very large mountain somewhere. Netossa had gone with her, unwilling to allow Spinerella to deal with Horde Prime on her own. He could understand: If Entrapta were to be hosting Horde Prime, he’d not want her to go on her own. 

Still, so long as they followed his instructions, so long as they were polite, and acted like working with him was their actual plan, then there wouldn’t be any trouble. 

Hopefully. 

“I conferred with DH.” Hordak continued, “And gave them a better analysis of the plan that I had so far: That is, a wide spread, lethal attack on every clone across the entire universe.” 

The faces of the princesses tightened. Adora looked like she wanted to say something. Before she could, Hordak continued. 

“With DH’s help, we can turn that into a more localized strike.” Hordak continued. “Due to Horde Prime’s… Methods of controlling DH-“ He took a quick, deep breath, “DH doesn't just have access to the system, they are part of the system.” He looked around. “This means that instead of creating a wide attack, we can target any clones in particular who have implants, and who are either on Etheria, or who would be between us and Horde Prime’s backup body.” 

“Would it still be lethal?” Adora asked. 

“Yes.” 

“... is there a non-lethal option?”

“Yeah!” Frosta said, standing up on her chair, “I mean, from what you’ve told us, from what we’ve seen, it’s not their fault, right?” She clenched her fists, “Shouldn’t we try to save as many as we can!?” 

“Doing so would be a more long term goal.” Hordak said, his own hands clenching, his breathing picking up, “We don’t have long term time.”

“But like, couldn’t we draw this out more?” Mermista said, “You know, figure out a way to help them?” 

Another deep breath. His ears pinned back. “Hypothetically.” He said, “If I were to cut off the connection with the implants, the clones would still behave in the same way.” He looked down at the table. “They’re not being controlled by the implants. They’re being observed. Occasionally-‘ 

“You said that it could alter their memories!” Glimmer said, “Isn’t that controlling them?” 

Another sigh from Hordak, “Yes.” He said, “Yes. It is. What I mean is that Horde Prime doesn't have direct control. If we disconnect them, they’re not going to snap out of it like DH did.” 

“How do you know!”

“Because DH isn’t like them!” Hordak snapped. Another breath: it wouldn’t do good to lose his temper. “DH isn’t like them. Their mind hasn’t been altered like the others. They’re being fully controlled. The others are not.” Hordak narrowed his eyes as he stared down at the table. 

“Ok, but, you were the same, right?” Perfuma asked, “You were like the other clones, And you’re here, with us, and -“ 

“I am not a clone, and my mind hasn’t been altered.” He snapped.

Implant. Ears. Brains.

“If disconnected, the clones will simply continue their attack.”

“Ok, but like, can’t you use the implant thingy to just like put them to sleep or something?” Mermista asked. 

Hordak was certain that he chipped a tooth with how hard he was grinding his teeth. He remembered what Huntara had said in the crimson wastes. His hands clutched at the table, denting it with each of his fingers. 

“Do you not think,” He hissed. “that I have considered those options.” He glared up at Mermista. “Until yesterday, I was looking at the complete and utter destruction of my. Entire. Race.” His wings puffed out around him - later, he would consider that it was perhaps an aggressive action, like how some animals tried to make themselves look bigger when angry or threatened. “Do you not think I went over every possibility, looked at every. Single. Piece of that implant. Do you not think I tried to come up with a better way, or do you think I just longed to commit genocide on a universal scale.” 

Silence around the table. Half the princesses were looking at his hands on the table, the dents in the metal. The other half, including Mermista, were looking away, looking anywhere but at him. 

Entrapta’s hair around his wrists and waist was perhaps the only thing that kept him calm. 

“Did you really think I just wanted to do this?” He demanded. He didn’t wait for them to answer, “Because I don’t! I don’t want to kill them! I don’t want to kill ANYBODY. I never did!” His claws came out, and pierced the metal of the table. “It is a fact of war, ;people. Die.”

Entrapta’s hair pulled him back from the table, and gently pulled his hands from the holes he had made. “We have limited capabilities with what we can do with the implants.” Entrapta said. How could she be so calm in all this? He didn’t know. “Because it doesn’t take control of a clone, we can’t use it to stop them.” 

“Hordak…” Adora finally said, her voice soft and careful. “We… We know you don’t want to kill them.” She looked around the table, “We all know that.” She looked back at Hordak. 

“It… well it’s war” Scorpia finally said. She had been so quiet up until now. “It’s war, right? Even in the thick of it, none of us wanted to kill anyone. Or give the orders.” 

Hordak slowly nodded his head. Right. Adora had just been assigned as Force Captain before she left the Horde, but Scorpia had been a Force Captain for years. She had led combat. 

At least somebody here understood. 

Hordak took several long, deep breaths before he continued, “There had been a plan I was toying with.” He said, “If the implants can alter memories, I thought that maybe I could do that to get them to stop attacking… but I can't access it through the chips, and even if I could, altering memories like that would be a delicate, careful process for each individual clone.” He glanced aside, “Something that I could potentially attempt after Horde Prime is stopped, but before that it’s not something that I can do. 

After several long minutes of silence, Glimmer cleared her voice. “Alright.” She said. “What’s our proper plan.” 

Hordak took another deep breath. He actually sat down; normally he preferred to stand while we gave his updates, but he felt that maybe if he sat down he wouldn’t be so anxious, or so quick to anger. 

“I have to finish the program.” Hordak said. “That won’t take long. After I’ve done that, I have to get it to DH.” 

“You have open communication with them now, right?” Glimmer asked. 

“Yes, but I can’t send the program that way.” Hordak said, “To keep the line of communication safe from being noticed it’s very -“ he trailed off, realizing that of all the people here, only himself, Entrapta, and perhaps Bow would understand. “I can’t send programs. Only text.” He shook his head. “No. I have to get the program to Horde Prime’s system. “ 

“How do we do that?” Adora asked. 

“We go back to the Fright Zone, Infiltrate Prime’s Flagship, and use a specific computer there to upload the program.” He glanced around. “The moment we do that, DH will have the program, and will be able to send it out to all the clones we need to deal with. However, the moment we do that, Horde Prime will also know that we’re up to something. At that point, he will attack us. Potentially, en masse.” 

“.. What do you mean, “En Masse?” Frosta asked. 

“If I was Horde Prime.” Hordak said, “I’d have a backup plan, just in case I'm betrayed.” He gestured to the map, “I’d have bots ready for combat at every major kingdom. There’s probably already bots at every major kingdom- including BrightMoon. 

“But.. wouldn’t we see them?” Glimmer asked. 

“They have tech that would easily hide or cloak their machines and bots.” Hordak said, “I didn’t have the tools needed to replicate that here, and it wasn’t a priority.” He shook his head, “The point is, the moment we give DH the program, Horde Prime will know that we’re working against him. Or rather, he’ll know that someone on the planet is working against him. He will be alerted, and the moment he is, he’ll order that actions be taken.” He glanced around. “Ideally, threatening each of your kingdoms with utter destruction unless you surrender then and there.” 

“So… He’ll destroy all our kingdoms.” Mermista said, “Isn’t that what we’re trying to prevent?” 

“Yes!” Entrapta said, rising up out of her seat, “That’s what I'm going to deal with! I’m using the Horde Tech that we got from the lab ship, my own robotics, and the First Ones tech we scavenged to make a defensive system for each kingdom! That way, If Horde Prime attacks, we’ll have our own defenses!” 

“Correct.” Hordak said, Unable to keep the smile off his face as he listened to Entrapta, “That will also keep him busy and keep him from sending his full force of troops to us.” He looked to the others, “As well, we need to be prepared to attack the Fright Zone when this happens. This is vital: we need to get Prime backed into a corner. We need him to open up a portal at that moment. If there’s no portal, we can’t get to his body, and we can’t stop prime. If we can put Prime on the Defensive, He’ll open the potal. At that point, not only can DH send the program to any clones who might stop us from getting to Prime, but we can also get to Prime’s backup body. 

“And… when the program goes through… what happens then?” 

Hordak took a deep breath. “It won’t be pretty.” He said. “All the clones on Etheria will die. We have to be prepared for a lot of chaos after that.” He looked down at the map, “Ships falling out of the sky, weapons malfunctioning… there’s a lot that could happen, so we’ll want to be somewhere relatively safe when that happens.” 

“I think Netossa can handle that.” Glimmer said. 

Hordak nodded. “Then we deal with any bots patrolling the Fright Zone - which shouldn’t be a problem, I have no doubt that anything that Entrapta makes will slice through Prime’s lesser bots without problem.” He felt his ears perk up as he said that, and even he couldn’t ignore the sudden tone of confidence and pride he had in his voice as he spoke. 

Next to him, Entrapta was beaming, and slightly flushed from the praise. 

“Then.” Hordak said, continuing on as he ignored his slightly flushed ears, “We kill Prime.” He looked around. “Questions?”

“Yeah.” Adora said, looking at Hordak confused. “I… ok, I don’t know about tech and stuff.” 

“I am aware.” 

“But you said that we can’t send the signal through unless a portal is open... But if DH isn’t here, if DH is outside the portal, how are you communicating with them?” 

“I asked that question.” Hordak said, “Do you want the long, detailed answer that makes perfect sense, or the short one that makes no scientific sense without further explination.” 

“The short one, please.” 

Hordak sighed, “Imagine that DH’s mind has been split into two- or rather, more like it’s been copied. It’s a trick that Horde Prime uses in case the signal is lost from the main home ship. When the signal is re-established, the activities and memories and events that DH experienced here will rejoin with the original.” 

“... wait.. how does that even work?” Mermista asked. Hordak gave her a hard look. 

“That answer is very science heavy, and requires a lot of previous knowledge of neurology, and-“ 

“Ok ok, nope. Nevermind.” Mermista shook her head, then waved her fingers in the air, “It’s ‘science’” 

Hordak nodded. “Correct. Science. Don’t ask the questions unless you’re prepared for a real explanation”

“If it makes a difference.” Entrapta said, “I got the explanation, and it makes perfect sense! It’s fascinating! The potentials for the extension of life-“ 

“Another question.” Mermista said.

Hordak narrowed his eyes at Mermista, “You couldn’t wait until Entrapta was done?” 

“Is she ever…” Mermista trailed off as she caught Hordak’s look, cleared her throat, and looked to Entrapta. “Sorry. Go on.” 

“No no. That’s fine.” Entrapta said, beaming at Hordak, “It’s fine. What’s your question?” 

“OK. I’m happy that we have an alternative plan for stopping the clones, but I thought you said we HAD to deal with every single one, or they’d come after us.” 

Hordak nodded, “Yes. Well…” He looked aside, “After the clones that we need to deal with immediately are dealt with, if we’re successful and PRime is destroyed, then we’re going to use the same program sparingly for clones that come into proximity. If It were just me doing this, it would have been an all-or-nothing situation. With DH in the system itself - basically a part of the system- we have a lot more control over where the program goes.” 

“So…If they do all attack us, then we can use it again.” Mermista said. 

“I’d rather not, but yes.” Hordak hoped that, at worst, they’d most likely have to deal with a few waves before the clones realized that they were throwing themselves to death. Still, if Prime needed to be avenged he had no doubt that the others would be more than happy to throw themselves at the effort. 

“Oh!” Entrapta said, tugging at Hordak’s arm, “You didn’t tell them the best part!!” 

Hordak looked down at Entrapta, confused for a moment before he remembered. 

“Ah. Yes. Of course.” He cleared his throat. “Apparently, there’s no less than 100,000 juvenile clones in early stages of development who have not yet had their brains altered, or implants added.” 

The princesses stared at him blankly. It took a moment before Scorpia suddenly gave an excited gasp. 

“Oh my gosh!” She said, “Clone babies!”


	89. Mindful

Normally, when the princesses started talking about their plans for further delaying Horde Prime, Hordak and Entrapta would leave the meeting room. They had other things to take care of. Today though, Hordak had something he intended to take care of after the meeting. 

He needed to speak to Perfuma. He hated it, but at this point, he was viewing it as a necessity. If that meant that he had to sit and listen to talks of tea-parties, regattas, and snow-festivals and apparently a big gala, then so be it. He had suffered through worse conversations. At least here he could work on the program for the implants. 

Not even in space, playing the ambassador. He’d suffered through worse with some of his Force Captains in the Fright Zone. 

It was in the middle of Shadow Weaver going over a report about some kind of magic ritual welcoming ceremony that Hordak heard a disturbance. At first he thought there might be an attack, and listened carefully as his ears flicked and zoned in on the sound, but as soon as he realized that that wasn’t the case, his ears flicked down and he tried very hard to ignore the sound. 

Apparently, Angell and Micah were getting ‘reacquainted’. Good news- that likely meant that Angella was feeling better and more centered in her current time. Still, did they have to be so loud? 

Hordak would have been willing to blame and curse his own exceptional hearing, but soon they got - to put it delicately- more vocal, and it was clear that everyone else could hear it. Glimmer, flushed red, had her head in her hands. Shadow Weaver was speaking a little louder over the noise, and everyone else was trying their best to ignore it. 

They were failing. 

When Shadow Weaver finished her presentation, and the noise was more obvious, Hordak sighed.

“Do they have to be so damn loud.” He muttered as he fiddled with the coding on his data pad. It was distracting, and frankly, he didn’t want to hear it. 

It took a moment for him to register the sudden silence around him. He glanced up, and realized suddenly that Glimmer, Adora, Scorpia, and Perfuma were pointedly looking anywhere but at him, and the others were staring at him in disbelief. 

He almost asked what was wrong before it clicked. Ears limp, face and ears burning blue, he buried himself back in his work, deciding to pretend that this moment in time had never happened. 

“I’ll cast a silencing charm on their rooms later.” Shadow Weaver said as she sat down. “It wouldn’t be the first time this month I’ve had to do that.” 

Hordak wondered if he could use his replica implant to purge his own memories of this moment. 

=======

By the time the meeting was done, Hordak had almost forgotten the reason why he had lingered behind. It was only when Entrapta tugged on his arm with her hair, and pointed at Perfuma and Scorpia leaving the room that he remembered. 

“Excuse us.” Hordak said to the other princesses as he and Entrapta hurried to the door to catch up. 

“Alright. You kids have fun.” Mermista called after them. 

“Shush, Mermista.” Adora said as they left, “What about that time you and Sea-Hawk-“ 

As much as Hordak would have loved having extra ammunition against Mermista, he had more important things to deal with.

Perfuma and Scorpia hadn’t gotten too far down the hallway. He hadn’t considered that Perfuma would leave the meeting room with anyone, but at least it was Scorpia. Scorpia wouldn’t ask too many questions or cause him too many problems. 

“Pardon me.” He said as clearly as he could manage when he was in hearing range. They both turned around to look at Hordak and Entrapta, surprised. 

“Oh! Sir! Hi!” Scorpia said, giving him a wave and an awkward smile. “Hey, so uh. Back there. You know. With uh. Shadow Weaver. And. Well, you know. Hey, it’s not a big deal right?” She put her hand behind her head and gave an anxious laugh, “I mean, you and Entrapta are both adults, and-“ 

“Scorpia.” Hordak said firmly, his ears once more limp and blue, “I would very much appreciate it if we continued on for the rest of our lives as though that didn’t happen.” He glanced down, and noticed that Entrapta was flushed as well, her hair puffed out around her. 

Somehow, it didn’t feel so bad realizing that he wasn’t in this alone. 

“Understood sir!” She said, giving a salute. “Didn’t happen. Never happened. What didn’t happen? See! Already forgot it. But I didn’t forget it, because it didn’t happen, and there’s nothing to forget!” Another awkward laugh. 

At least her heart was in the right place. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I wonder if I could speak to Princess Perfuma.” He said though Scorpia’s continued rambling. “Privately.” 

“Oh? Oh! Oh sure, yes! Uh-“ She turned to Perfuma, “You’ll show me those flowers later?” 

Perfuma gave Scorpia a big smile, “Wait for me in the gardens.” She said, “I’ll find you when I’m done.” 

Scorpia smiled and took off down the hallway, leaving Hordak, Entrapta, and Perfuma alone. 

“The library is nearby.” Perfuma said as she led them down the hallway. As they entered the large, book lined room, Hordak realized that he and Entrapta hadn’t been there since their date night. As they took a seat around a table, Hordak did his best to look away from the narrow rows of bookshelves near the back. 

“So….” Perfuma said carefully, eying the two of them. “What do you need?” 

Hordak frowned as he looked down at the table. He was determined to take care of this. He had to. The panic attacks were getting worse, even when he tried to do that grounding stuff that he had been shown. That worked, most of the time, but he hadn’t been able to do it when Light Hope was using her holographs. 

No. He had to do this. He had to get help for this. If what happened back in the Crystal Castle happened in actual combat, he’d be dead. 

Still. How did he ask for help with this? 

After a moment of silence, Perfuma sighed, “I.. uh.” She looked away, ‘I don’t normally grow… you know, flowers for various enhancements. I know a place though-“ 

“Enhancements?” 

“You know. Uh…” She gave Hordak a meaningful look. “Enhancements?” 

“I don’t think I understand?” He said, very confused. Perfuma seemed confused as well. 

“Oh!” Entrapta said, her hair snapping as she understood, “I think she’s talking about flowers that would enhance a normal, Entherian Male’s stamina. 

Oh? 

Oh. 

“OH!” Hordak suddenly said, his ears flushed blue, “No. No no no. No. Not that. No, I just need help with the panic attacks!” 

Well, it looked like the best way to get it out was to have the potential of something more embarrassing presented as an alternative. To his surprise, Perfuma gave a deep sigh of relief. 

“You’d be surprised how many people come to Plumeria looking for that kinda stuff.” She said with a sigh. “The way you were hesitating, I thought…” She flushed and shook her head. “You know what, nevermind what I thought.” She leaned forward, and tilted her head at Hordak, “So, panic attacks.” 

Hordak nodded his head. “Correct.” 

“Is the grounding not working?” 

Hordak looked to the side, frowning. Entrapta gave his wrist a little squeeze with one strand of hair, and pushed his face to look at Perfuma with another. 

“I… I’ll help you, Hordak.” Perfuma said, her voice careful and gentle, “But I need to know the problem if I’m going to.” 

“I need to stop them.” He said firmly. “Altogether.”

“Oh…” Perfuma said, sitting back, “Well.. Uh… that’s a little out of my expertise. But.. I mean, you just realized that you’re having them. You started grounding, and even now, you’re back for help! That’s a good start, yes?” She leaned forward, giving a supportive smile, “I mean, you’re doing good, all things considered.”

“Then when will they stop.” Hordak hissed. “What do I do if I’m in combat, and this happens? What if this had happened in the Crimson Wastes, against that Tongue Lasher’s gang, or against that spider?” He shook his head and leaned forward, “They have to stop.” 

Entrapta held up her data pad, showing overlapping circles with various faces in the centers. “I told Hordak that, statistically, his odds of being in one-on-one combat now without proper backup support would be low, but -“ 

“There is still a chance, and I don’t like taking chances if I can help it.” He turned back to Perfuma, “I need to know how to make them stop, and-....” He trailed off. There were certain looks he was getting used to seeing from the other princesses. Amusement, that weird sparkly-eye thing they did when they thought he was being sweet, and even a certain level of awe from when he didn something particularly impressive. 

He was also getting used to this sad, pitying look that they might give him sometimes; the look which Perfuma was giving him now. 

“Oh.. Hordak…” She said, her voice low and sad. Hordak narrowed his eyes. 

“What?” He snapped. 

“That... that’s not how it works.” She said. 

Hordak stared at Perfuma for a long moment before looking down at Entrapta, who was listening, even though she was putting data into her data pad. He felt her hair squeeze around his wrist again, and a strand wrapped around his waist. 

“I suggested that you might know more effective techniques for preventing them.” Entrapta said, “I mean, there’s things we could do with altering the mind and particular chemicals-“ She stopped herself as Hordak’s ears pinned back. She cleared her throat. “But, for obvious reasons, those won’t work.” 

Perfuma nodded, and seemed to take her time to try to sort out what she wanted to say. Finally, she looked up at Hordak. “You’re… dealing with a lot.” She said. “You’ve learned a lot, and gone through a lot in a short period of time… And I don’t know everything, but I think you’re digging up stuff that’s been bothering you as well. It’s…” She frowned. “I can help you with other tricks - mindfulness and stuff- which might help. But to get rid of them? Altogether?” She shook her head, “Hordak… it might taper off, but you also might have panic attacks for the rest of your life. It’s not something that just goes away.” She shrugged, “I mean… working through the issues can help, but I’m not a therapist.” She frowned. “Your doctor, Mel? She said you had therapists in the Fright Zone?” 

“You did?” Entrapta asked, looking up at Hordak. Hordak could only shrug. 

“I was told we needed things for medical, and I said alright. The doctors in my employ had a better grasp of Etherian medical issues than I do. If Mel said she needed therapists, then I would have told her to get some.” He shook his head, “Regardless, they’re not here.” 

Perfuma sighed and leaned her head in her hands. “When this is over…” She said, her tone very careful, “You should, you know, Talk to someone.” 

“I talk to Entrapta.” 

“... A professional.” 

“... I’d rather not.” Hordak said. 

“And at any rate, I can teach you about mindfulness and the like, but… that’s just a short term fix.” She glanced up at Hordak again. “At some point, you’re going to have to deal with all this.” 

Hordak nodded, but at the same time he was looking around at all the books in the library. This was all out of his expertise, but he was positive he could figure out enough to help himself. When all this was over with, when Prime was gone, then he could put his focus into fixing his brain- just like he had fixed his body. 

In the meantime though…

“Alright.” He said, “Tell me about this ‘mindfulness’” 

  
  



	90. Mindfulness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my readers! 
> 
> I said when I started posting three times a week that when I had to go back to work, the releases would reduce. 
> 
> Alas, that time is next week. I have not become a famous author during quarentine so it’s back to work for me. 
> 
> HOWEVER. 
> 
> At the end of this chapter, I’ll provide a link to my original story. :D

From what Hordak understood of Perfuma’s half hour explanation, mindfulness was apparently the art of not thinking. No planning, no thinking about the future, no thinking about the past. It involved the grounding that she had taught him already, as well as types of meditation where the point was apparently to sit quietly and not think. 

How did one not think? Wasn’t it irresponsible to not think about the future? He didn’t like it. What was he supposed to do, just turn off his mind? His mind didn’t have an off switch!

Still, he didn’t have many other options. He needed to find a way stop those panic attacks and if this mindfulness practice helped, he’d have to master it.

He found it a little funny, though, that he’d be learning how not to think from a princess. 

“I don’t know how I’d be able to not think.” Entrapta said as they walked to their room. She had taken extensive notes, but seemed to be as skeptical of it all as Hordak was. “I mean, I think the only time I’m not thinking is when I’m sleeping, and even then, when I dream, I- “

“Entrapta?” 

Hordak and Entrapta turned around to see Bow running up to them. “I got the old bots ready for you.” He said once he got close. 

“Oh! Perfect!” Entrapta said as her hair puffed out. She turned to Hordak. “I asked Bow to bring me whatever old bots he could from before I was in the Fright Zone, and any they had managed to disable from when I was in the Fright Zone, and old bots from old battles. I’m going to pull them apart create a super bot from the best parts! Something entirely new !” She lifted herself up on her hair, looking at Hordak with wide excited eyes, “It’s going to be the Best. Battle. Bot. Ever!” She gave a sudden, loud, almost manic laugh.

Bow backed away. 

Hordak couldn’t help the smile that came over his face. It wasn’t just from her excitement, but as excited as she was, as determined as she was, and with how angry he knew she was at Prime, Hordak knew that this bot would probably be her masterpiece. This bot would be almost artistic in it’s perfection when Entrapta was done with it. It would be the deadliest bot ever created in Etherian history.

No. Wait. She had access to the schematics for bots from around the universe now, thanks to the information they had on the lab ship. This wasn’t just going to be the most advanced, the most powerful battle bot in Etherian history. Hordak was positive that she would make a bot which would one day be whispered about in the furthest corners of the universe. 

Entrapta was going to build a war crime. Hordak couldn’t wait to show it to Prime. 

“Excellent.” He said, “Let’s go and-“ 

“No no!” Entrapta said, pushing Hordak away with her hair, “This? This is going to be a surprise! I want to see your face when it’s done! When you see what it can do!”

“Very well.” Hordak said, taking a step back. He felt his ears droop slightly. “I will be in our room. I have to work on my programming.” 

He could be away from her. He had to be. He had to get used to it.

Entrapta lifted herself back up towards him, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before turning, and taking off down the hallway with Bow running to catch up. 

“I’ll see you later!” She promised as she took off around a corner. Hordak waved until she was out of sight, then listened until he could no longer hear her. When she was far away, he turned, and continued on to their room. 

It would be a chance to practice this mindfulness stuff. He’d work, and try very hard not to think about when Entrapta would be coming back. Much like when he was detoxing, he imagined it’d be easier if he kept himself occupied. 

=======

When Hordak got to his rooms, he was very surprised to see Glimmer there, waiting for him. She had her back turned to him, and was looking out the balcony window. 

“Queen Glimmer.” Hordak said as he stepped into the room, “I though that you would be with Shadow Weaver, planning the welcoming rituals.” 

“Hmmm.” Glimmer said as she turned around, “Well, Shadow Weaver can take care of that, right?” 

“I suppose.” He frowned. He was certain that Glimmer said that she was going to be working with Shadow Weaver today.” 

“Where’s Entrapta?” She asked.

“She went off with Bow.” He said as he went up to his computers, “He had some bots that he wanted her to look at for-“

Before he could answer, Imp jumped up in front of him on the computer, and gave him an angry screech. 

“What?” He asked, genuinely confused.

Imp opened his mouth in response, and a vaguely familiar voice played back, “Well hello sweetie!” A vaguely familiar voice said, “Where’s Hordak today?” 

It took Hordak a moment to remember the voice. He sighed, and turned around to face ‘Glimmer’, his hands on his hips. 

“Greetings, Double Trouble.” 

Glimmer frowned at Imp, and then shimmered before taking on the form of Double Trouble. They sat on the edge of the bed and gave Imp an irritated look.

“Well.” They said, “If I knew that little guy could do that, I would have been a little more careful.” They leaned back, reclining on the bed. “What, did he swallow a recorder.” 

Imp screeched at Double Trouble, and jumped up on Hordak’s Shoulder. They would have to make some kind of code that Imp could use now, so that Hordak knew when it was really imp, and not Double Trouble. He figured it best to have some kind of code for each of the princesses. 

“You just arrived here, I assume?” Hordak asked.

Double Trouble flopped dramatically on the bed, “Oh yes.” They said, “Normally at your invitation I would have come here right away, but I unfortunately had prior arrangements that I just couldn’t cancel!” They sat up, and gave Hordak an almost playful smirk, “So sorry to keep you waiting.” 

Hordak suppressed a sigh as he sat down in the chair at his desk. He didn’t want to deal with Double Trouble, but he had little choice. 

“So you got a bit of a makeover.” Double Trouble said, pointing to Hordak’s wings. A moment later they had a similar pair of wings from their own back, and had them comfortably draped over their shoulders. It was almost infuriating to Hordak how quickly they were able to control them. “You look different, actually.” They tilted their head, giving the most innocent look they could, “Do I need to check my reference again?” 

“No.” Hordak hissed. He took a deep breath, “No.” He said again with a calmer tone, ”In fact, I need to know if you’re able to look like me before I got the wings.”

Double Trouble stood up, shifting as they did into Hordak as he was before, complete with his old dress and the armor that Entrapta had made him. They clasped their hands behind their back, giving Hordak himself a hard look. 

“Fool. Of course I can. Such a thing is a simple matter for me.” They turned, and paced to the window, “Any who would doubt my skills will suffer dire consequences for underestimating me.” 

The voice was perfect. As much as Hordak hated to admit it, even the stance was perfect. The cadence of the speech, the hand gestures, even the way that Hordak walked was perfectly replicated. 

There was one problem though. 

“Almost perfect.” Hordak said as he observed his new doppleganger. 

Double Trouble let their expression slip, and Hordak saw a look of confusion cross ‘his’ face. “Almost?” 

“The ears.” Hordak said, “You need to learn how to emote with them. Properly. All the time. As though it were a part of your speech.” 

They shifted back into Double Trouble, and sat down on the bed, “Well, I can certainly do a little of that.” They said as their ears shifted to match Hordak’s, “Look, excited-“ Their ears pinned up, “Sad.” Their ears drooped down, “Embarrassed-“ their ears went flat, and flushed blue, “I got the basics.” 

“You need more than the basics.” Hordak said with a scowl, “You need to know the meaning of every twitch, every flick. You need to understand every subtle movement of the ears, and what they mean in speech and feeling.” 

“Oh?” Double Trouble’s own ears pinned back in interest, “Why do I need to know so much? I mean, I have no problem doing whatever it takes to get a part down, but why are you so insistent.” 

“Because you’ll be convincing Horde Prime that you’re me.” Hordak said simply, “And Prime will pay more attention to your ears than he will your face.” 

Double Trouble gave Hordak a quick, deep look; and for a moment there was a flash of seriousness in their face, a moment of deep thought. It lasted only a second before it was gone, replaced with a smile and a flick of the hair. 

“You want me to be you,” they said, “For this Horde Prime.” They leaned forward, “You know, I know i’m not dealing with all this stuff, but from what I heard, I’d figure that you’d want to show off a new position and new wings and all that to Horde Prime. I mean, since you’re all going to cooperate with him.” they stretched on the bed, “Though, you’re not really, are you?” 

“... What?” Hordak said, feeling his ears flick out in confusion. 

“Oh please.” Double Trouble said, “I’m a shapeshifter, and an excellent reader of other people. You think I can’t figure out a plot when I see it?” They glanced around, “Not that I have any idea what this particular plot might be, but I very much doubt you’re playing Horde Prime’s game.” They gave Hordak a sly grin, “I mean, if you were, why would you bother bring Queen Angella back. Oh, no, right, it’s just Angella, isn’t it?” 

Hordak narrowed his eyes, and his mind quickly pieced the information together. “Alright.” He said, “How long have you actually been at Bright Moon.” 

Double Trouble clapped their hands, “Oh, you are fun.” They said, “Most people would just look at me all -“ They shifted into Glimmer, and gave an exaggerated gasp, “How did you know that!” They said, “Who told you!” 

“I’m quite a bit older than Queen Glimmer.” Hordak said, “And I’ve experienced a lot more.” 

They quickly shifted back into themselves, “Hmm. Yes. So I’ve heard.” They said as they ran their hand over the bed. “So I’m guessing you want me to be you around Horde Prime because of the whole ears thing.” They looked back up at Hordak, “I mean, if you’re plotting against him, having your ears signal what your feeling might be a problem.” 

Hordak sighed and rubbed between his eyes. “So you’ve been here a few days at least, then.” He said. 

“Hmm? Oh! You actually wanted an answer? Yes, three days now. I like getting to know my stage before I properly perform.” 

“This would never have happened in the Fright Zone.” Hordak grumbled under his breath

To his surprise, Double Trouble let out a loud, long laugh. “Oh sweetie.” They said once they composed themselves, “That’s hilarious.” 

“...What?” 

“I mean, sure, your little laboratory, or rather, your sanctum, was pretty secure. Especially once you and Entrapta started getting close. But for the rest of the place, half the time I didn’t even need to put effort into sneaking around. Armored guards with helmets make everything so easy. I mean, even Horde Prime’s new little army is relatively easy, but I’ve seen what they do to people there. Not interested.” they flicked their hair again, “I can do most anything, but conformity isn’t my style.” They looked over Hordak once more, “Though, It’s clearly not yours either.” 

“I see.” Hordak said. He still didn’t know how much he could trust this Double Trouble - if at all. However, Double Trouble wanted him to at least think that he could trust them. 

He could work with that. 

“Very well.” He said. “Shall I assume you’re willing to work with us?” 

“For a price, but yes.”

Hordak felt his eyes narrow and his ears pin back. Great. For a price. He sighed. “What do you want?” 

Double Trouble leaned forward, grinning with sharp teeth, “Normally, I’d want financial compensation for my work; artists have to eat. However, I see a greater opportunity here. If we do this. If we win… Do you think you can get me on one of those stages in this ‘greater universe’?”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! 90 chapters!
> 
> Now... if you want MORE stuff to read from me, you should check out Synth! If you’re loving the whole Chilacian thing in this, well, Synth is me taking Chilacians and putting them in a new story. There’s no Hordak ( clearly) but we do have DH! 
> 
> So check it out, and let me know over on Royal Road what you think :D  
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/31367/synth


	91. BOOM

Hordak was engrossed in his programming work. Now that he had spoken to DH, and now that they had a better plan, all that was left was for him to do his part and get the program written. 

Even as he worked, doing the basic setup that would allow him to actually alter the program, his mind was racing ahead thinking of other things he’d have to do when it was done. It was very much not part of the mindfulness that Perfuma had talked about. 

Entrapta would need help making the defensive bots for the major kingdoms of Etheria. 

The work on the Heart of Etheria had to be completed. 

The other princesses would need more self-defense training. 

Advanced weaponry would be useful.

New armor for himself would be useful. Even if he didn’t need it per se, it was still protective. 

He had to do more physical training. 

On and on his mind listed all the things that had to be done before they could make their move while he kept typing away, his fingers flying across the keyboard until- 

“Seriously, is this all you do all day?” 

Hordak’s fingers paused over the keyboard. He sighed, and turned to Double Trouble. 

“There is work to be done.” Hordak said, “I have to do it.” 

“Fine, fine, I get that.” Double Trouble rolled onto their back, sighing as they examined their nails, “But unless you want me to sit at a computer whenever Horde Prime is around, I’m going to need to observe you interacting with other people.”

Another deep sigh from Hordak as he turned around to get back to his work. 

Double Trouble had insisted that the best way to really nail Hordak’s character for the performance was basically to shadow him as much as possible. While Hordak didn’t like that idea, he agreed that it would probably be the more effective way to do things, since Hordak couldn’t really explain the ear movements. They just happened. 

“I mean, I’m sure I can get some good material just chatting to you here, but it’s not really authentic, you know?” They shifted into Entrapta and sat up, elevating themselves up on their hair. “But think of all the data we could get if we went out and got the information from real, social experiments!” 

Hordak narrowed his eyes, and was about to tell Double Trouble not to do that, but then he realized something. It was subtle, and he almost missed it at first. There was a moment of strange disorientation as he looked at ‘Entrapta’. There was something missing. She looked perfect though. The hair moved right, her voice was right, her way of speaking….

But she didn’t smell right! His sense of smell was stronger than the average Etherian, but becuase he was chemically bonded to Entrapta, he was especially in tune to how she smelled. He didn’t even notice it anymore, but now, seeing ‘Entrapta’ without smelling her…

He gave a brief smirk, then turned back to work at his computer .

“Wait. What?” Double Trouble asked from behind him, taking their own form once more, “What was that smirk.” 

“I’ll tell you if you can ever manage to trick me into thinking you’re Entrapta.” 

In a moment, Double Trouble was at Hordak’s side. “Ooh, a tell I’ve missed? That’s hardly fair though, I have to shadow you to figure out your silly little ears.” They took a step back, “Though, I’m glad I don’t have to do the wings after all. They’re so shifty, and it’s a bit weird how you have them draped over your shoulders. 

“It’s more comfortable.” Hordak said. He turned back to Double Trouble. “A better question: how were you able to move your hair when you were Entrapta?”

Double Trouble blinked at HOrdak, “What do you mean?” 

“I assume your hair doesn’t move.” 

“Generally no.” 

“Then how do you make it move when you’re Entrapta?” 

“Same way I make my fingers move, I just move them.” They tilted their head, “How do you make your ears move?” 

“I don’t. They just do.” 

“Exactly!” Double Trouble said as they went back to the bed and plopped down. “It just happens. Well, even though we’re still cooped up here, I’m glad we had this little chat! I learned a lot.” 

Before HOrdak could even start to ask what Double Trouble could have learned from two minutes of conversation, Hordak heard a loud boom from somewhere in Bright Moon. 

“... You heard that too, right?” Double Trouble asked, sitting up. 

“Yes, I-“ Hordak froze. It didn’t take him long to piece it together. 

“Entrapta!”

========

The programming was forgotten. Double Trouble was forgotten. All future plans were forgotten. The moment Hordak realized that the explosion that he had heard must be linked to Entrapta, then there was only one thing that too up 100% of his mind’s runtime. 

Entrapta might be hurt. 

Hordak ran down a hallway, forgetting about his wings which puffed back and threw him off balance. He didn’t even have the sense to be embarrassed, he just got up, grabbed his wings, and held onto them as he rushed off, vaguely aware of Imp flying next to him, and Double Trouble running behind him. 

When he stopped next, it was only because he nearly ran into a guard who was hurrying down the hallway. The guard didn’t even have a chance to say anything- Hordak loomed over her, his wings puffed out, his eyes wide and his ears pinned back. 

“Where’s Entrapta.” 

The guard took a step back. “In the courtyard” She said, “I was coming to fetch you, I-“ 

Hordak didn’t wait to hear what she was saying. Courtyard. Entrapta was there. He rushed down another hallway and glanced out the window that led to the courtyard. Through the stained glass he could see a carrier with a bunch of boxes all around it, and one half demolished box in the center. Pieces of tech were strewn about. 

He stopped, and looked frantically to the wreckage. He couldn’t see Entrapta. 

With a growl, he rushed off, continuing down the hallway. Double Trouble called out something to him, but Hordak ignored them. 

Single-minded determination; One thought taking up his whole mind. 

Perfuma would have been proud. 

=======

Hordak as well out of breath by the time he got to the courtyard. It had been a lot of running, a lot of stairs, and to be perfectly honest he simply wasn’t used to running like that anymore. 

In part, the reason why he needed to continue his training as soon as possible. 

Ignoring the burning in his legs and lungs, he ran up to the carrier, “Entrapta!” He called out. 

No response. 

“Entrapta!” He looked around, looking for a sign of her. Nothing. “Bow?” He tried that next. Bow was supposed to be helping her. Bow was suppose to be with her and if anything had happened to her, then - 

No. Wait. Bow was one of the sensible ones. If there was any kind of injury, he’d have taken Entrapta to whatever Bright Moon’s version of a med bay would be. 

His first though was Adora. If it was bad enough, maybe he had taken her to Adora? He didn’t know. He looked around, for someone, for anyone who could tell Hordak where Entrapta was. 

He heard something from the other side of the courtyard. Another guard. He ran up, taking her by surprise as he rushed towards her. 

“Entrapta.” He panted, “Where’s Entrapta?” 

“Prince Consort Hordak.” The guard said, giving a quick bow, “I don’t-“ 

Hordak nearly roared. It took every ounce of will he had in his body not to. At a time like then, when Entrapta could be injured or dead, THIS GUARD was worried about addressing him by a title!?

“Where.” Hordak hissed through grit teeth, “Is Entrapta.” 

“... behind you?” 

Hordak turned, getting ready to roar at what he assumed was Double Trouble taking on the guise of Entrapta once more, but instead he turned to see Entrapta and Bow re-entering the courtyard, followed by a very convincing Hordak, complete with wings. 

He ran up to them, his eyes glancing over Entrapta as he approached. She didn’t seem injured, though. Now that she saw him running towards her, she was confused about the additional Hordak. 

“Hordak?” She asked as she looked from Hordak to ‘Hordak’

“It’s Double Trouble.” ‘Hordak’ said, “They’ve been observing me.” 

“Oh?” She looked over ‘Hordak’ and then over Hordak. She frowned, then turned back to ‘Hordak.’

“Oh. I meant to ask you.” She said, “What’s the insulation we used on the black-hole drive to power the portal? Was it the affixed insulation, or the systemic insulation?” 

Hordak was admittedly impressed by how Double Trouble didn’t seem thrown at all by the question. “The affixed, I believe.” They said. 

“Incorrect.” Hordak said, smirking as he took a step forward, “Entrapta just threw a handful of nonsense words at you. Neither of those insulations exist, and none of that sentence made sense.” 

Entrapta beamed up at Hordak, “Hi Hordak!” She said as she lifted herself up and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, “I thought you were staying away so I could surprise you!” 

“I heard an explosion, and then I was told tha tyou were here and-“ 

Entrapta’s hair pointed to the remains of an old metal barrel. “Yeah. There was some unstable materials in that barrel. It was too dangerous to move it, and we couldn’t risk keeping it here, so I decided it best to get rid of it with a planned explosion. It was a little bit stronger of an explosion than I thought it’d be, but it’s fine! Everything worked out.” 

“Yeah… I mean, mostly.” Bow said as he lifted his hand, showing off his bandaged wrist, “I fell over and hurt my wrist, but aside from that-“ 

“And if you hadn’t been rushing.” Double Trouble said as they shifted back into themselves, “The guard would have told you just that.” They frowned and looked at Entrapta and Bow, “Is he always this…. frantic when it comes to Entrapta. 

“I am not fran-“ 

“Yes.” Bow said as Entrapta went back to look at some of the tech on the ground, “Yes. He is. He’s worse if Entrapta gets hurt. LIke, actually hurt. Attacked, specifically. So maybe make sure that doesn’t happen.” 

“I’ll keep it in mind.” Double Trouble said with a grin. They looked back at Hordak, “Honestly, you’re almost cute how you just freaked out like that. So protective. So sweet. I mean-“ They pointed up at the window that Hordak had looked out of eariler, “You were so spazzed that you didn’t even think to fly down. I tried to suggest that, but-“ 

“I was not ‘spazzed’” Hordak hissed. “I cannot fly.” 

“Oh.” Double Trouble said, suddenly silenced. They strode up to Hordak and started pacing around them. “Hmm… yes, I guess I can see that. These are new afterall. I mean, it took me MONTHS to figure out how to fly the first time I shifted into someone with wings.” 

“You what?” 

“Of course, I didn’t have to worry about building up muscles then. I just had to move the muscles around. But I guess-“ 

“Oh! How did you learn how to fly?” Entrapta asked from over where she was picking at her tech. 

“Oh, self taught.” Double Trouble said, posing. “Anyone who was born with wings is absolute rubbish for teaching you how to fly. They’re just like ‘oh, just flap your wings. Grab the air.’” They shook their head. “It’s like how people express emotions too, you know. They’ve done it all their lives, they wouldn’t know how to teach it. NOT flying is so foreign to them.” 

Hordak gave another deep sigh. He did not want to ask Double Trouble for help with that. He wouldn’t. If this Double Trouble could teach themselves how to fly, then Hordak was positive that they could do the same. 

Regardless, they had to build up the muscles in their back first before that was even a possibility. When that was over then they’d observe- 

“Hey, maybe you could teach Hodak!” Entrapta said as she started soldering together pieces of metal. “I mean, not right now, he has to build up the wing strength, but when he’s got that figured out, you could teach him!” 

“Oh, I’d be honored, but-“ Double Trouble looked up, giving Hordak a teasing grin. “I’m sure Hordak would probably rather teach himself and go through months of falling on his face while he tries to take to the skies just so he doesn’t have to deign to ask me for help, or suffer through being taught by me.” They tilted their head at Hordak, “Right?” 

Hordak scowled, and started heading back to his room. 

“..... Once I’ve got the muscles built up.” He finally muttered.


	92. Stage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> I’m back to work Monday, so this is the last week of three updates a week. Starting next week, we go back to Monday-Friday updates!
> 
> <3

“Didn’t know you were the overprotective type.” Double Trouble said as they followed Hordak back to the room. “I mean, the guards tried to tell you that she was fine but-“ 

Hordak let a low growl escape his throat as his face and ears stayed slightly flushed. “I am not overprotective.” He snapped. “Hearing a giant explosion is an adequate reason for concern.” 

“Well… A bit dumb when Entrapta is involved then.” 

“I fail to see how running to check on Entrapta’s safety after hearing an explosion could be considered ‘dumb.’

“Well, if anything had happened, wouldn’t the other guards have been looking for you, instead of wandering around?” They shrugged, “Oh well, at least I’m getting some great material here.” They dashed ahead and shifted into Hordak once more. 

“I am not a lovesick fool.” Double Trouble said. Their voice was perfect as usual. Their movements were accurate. Their ears signaled irritation and embarrassment. “Anyone who would come to know Entrapta -“ Here their ears signaled adoration, admiration, and love, “would see that the absolute and abject adoration of her is the only possible outcome for anyone who would actually get to know her.” 

“I do not speak like that.” Hordak hissed, his ears burning deeply blue. He wanted to protest the ear movements, but he really couldn’t. There was no way that Double Trouble would have known what they meant, they were just imitating what they saw. 

Apparently, when Hordak spoke of Entrapta his ears started twitching madly with adoration and love. 

A growl came from Double Trouble has they turned away, stalking down the hallway, “I assure you, you do.” They said as their ears pinned back with irritation and rage, “You are simply too close to the subject matter to properly comprehend the truth of your own behaviour-“ They stopped just as they were about to turn a corner, then shifted back to themselves, and pushed Hordak back a few steps. “In fact.” Double Trouble whispered, “Queen Glimmer is just outside your room. Waiting for you, apparently.” They smirked at Hordak, “I bet that I can convince her that I’m you.” 

“Queen Glimmer hardly knows me.” 

“I bet I can suddenly start gushing about Entrapta, and she would still think it’s you.” 

“Does she even know you’re here?” Hordak demanded. 

“I’ll sweeten the deal. I’ll ask about myself. What do you say?” They smirked, “Nothing on the line except your pride.. and mine, of course. My reputation as an actor and all.” They tilted their head, “Of course, if you know that I’d convince her because you do gush about Entrapta, then we can just go on and not worry about it.” 

“Very well.” Hordak hissed. “Try.” 

They smirked, and shimmered in the air before taking on Hordak’s visage once more. They gave Hordak a quick wink - which looked almost disconcerting to Hordak- and strode off down the hallway towards Glimmer. 

“Queen Glimmer.” Double Trouble said as they approached her. Their hands were clasped behind their back, just under the wings which were gently resting over their shoulders. 

Even from where he was watching, HOrdak could see Double Troubles ears signaling irritation and curiosity…. also a little bit of nausea. Hordak was pretty sure that was accidental. Still, Double Trouble was picking up on the ear movements very quickly. 

It was concerning, 

“Hordak! Glimmer said as she took a step towards him, “I was looking for you. I came here first, and one of the guards said you ran off because of an explosion. 

“Yes, Entrapta used an explosion to deal with some potentially hazardous materials, and-“ they paused, and glanced down at Glimmer, their ears pinning back with suspicion, “And I lost track of Double Trouble on the way back.” They said. 

Glimmer blinked, and backed away, “I’m not Double Trouble. Promise. Look!” She teleported away, then back. “See! Teleportation powers. Double Trouble can’t use magic like that.” 

A low, suspicious hum came from Double Trouble’s throat. 

“Wait… did you say Entrapta used an explosion to get rid of hazardous materials?” He frowned at Double Trouble. “In Bright Moon? LIke, in the castle!?”

“In the courtyard.” Double Trouble said with just a hint of coldness. “And I assure you, if Entrapta is the one dealing with hazardous materials-“ The ears did the thing again, the flick and quiver that signaled love and adoration, “Then I assure you that nothing will happen. Entrapta is in possession of the singularly most impressive mind on this planet and-“ 

“Ok ok, that’s fine.” Glimmer said, almost laughing, “Sorry, sorry.” 

Hordak didn’t like that Double Trouble had Glimmer convinced. He especially didn’t like how that tone of voice that they used, the way their eyes suddenly lit up, and the movements of their ears made Hordak look at himself as a swooning, lovesick adolescent! It was frankly embarrassing! 

He… he didn’t actually look like that when he was normally talking about Entrapta, did he? Glimmer didn’t seem to think that anything was out of the ordinary….

A series of curses ran through his head as he realized that he most likely did; Double Trouble was acting from observation. 

“I think you’ve made your point.” Hordak said, coming out from around the corner with his ears low and blue. Glimmer did a double take, then comprehension flooded her expression. 

“Ahhh.” She said to ‘Hordak’ You’re Double Trouble then. 

Double Trouble shifted back into themselves, and gave a low bow to Glimmer, “I am, the one and only.” They gestured carelessly to Hordak, “He doubted my rendition of ‘Hordak in Love.’ But what did YOU think, Queen Glimmer? Did I get the part just right?

Glimmer stifled a laugh, and tried to cover it up with a cough. “Yes, yes it was a perfect rendition.” She said. 

“You looked nauseated.” Hordak said, glowering at Double Trouble.

“I did?” They looked up at Hordak, “What was it? The coloration? Movements?” 

“The ears.” Hordak hissed. 

Double Trouble paced around Hordak, hands on their hips as they examined their ears, “Interesting.” 

“I’d say they’re good enough for an Etherian audience, anyway.” Glimmer said. She glanced up at Hordak, “Don’t you?” 

He frowned. “Perhaps?” Most of Etheria didn’t know him, and more importantly none of them could really understand the ears. “Probably. Why?” 

Glimmer cleared her throat and stood up tall, “Hordak.” She said in what Hordak had come to think of as her Queen voice, “If there is nothing else especially urgent for you to attend to, then I think it’s vital that you be officially titled as Bright Moon’s Horde Ambassador!” She let her shoulders sink. “There’s been minimal information out to the people, but …. I need to make an announcement of some kind. Etheria needs to know that something is happening, and how to act. So…. best to give you your position then, right?” 

Hordak gave a heavy sigh, “Right.” He said. He was not looking forward to having a crowd gawk at him. It was different when he was in a place of power; when he was Lord Hordak of the Fright Zone, or even before that when he was Horde Alpha. 

“Ohh, will this be my debut as Hordak?” Double Trouble said as they clapped their hands together. Hordak’s ears perked up. “Oh, oh he prefers that.” Double Trouble said as they watched his ears, “Hordak, do you not like public speaking?” 

“I have no issues with public speaking.” He growled, “I used to be Horde Prime’s second in command, and acted as the ambassador many times.I simply have little patience for ceremony.” He looked to Glimmer, “Though, I wonder if it will be safe.” 

“What do you mean.” 

Hordak gave another sigh. “Assassination attempts, Glimmer.” He said slowly. “I hardly think that everyone in your kingdom will be very happy to see me working for you to help Etheria join Horde Prime’s empire. 

“Oh, there wouldn’t be any….” She trailed off, apparently only now remembering the incident at Mystacor. 

“Oh, maybe you’ll have a chance for a higher rated assassination!” Double Trouble said. 

“Or you will.” Hordak said, “And if you die, then that’s a big complication for me.” 

“Awww.” Double Trouble said with sarcasm dripping from their voice, “You do care.” 

“We’ll take precautions.” She said, “If all the princesses are on alert, I’m sure we can stop anything that might happen.” 

“What will this ceremony entail.” Hordak asked.

“Well…” Glimmer said, “It’s a speech, your presentation. Then I bestow your position on you, and then there’s a reception afterwards for you to meet the nobility.” 

Hordak and Double Trouble both said “great.” At the same time, albeit with very different tones. 

“Will DH be there.” Hordak said quickly, “Horde Alpha?” 

“Should I invite them?” 

Hordak cursed under his breath. “Yes.” He said, “If you don’t, that would be a rather large slight. 

“What about Prime?” She asked, “Should I invite him?” 

A chill of fear ran through Hordak’s spine. His ears flattened for a moment and he realized quickly and suddenly that he was not ready to see Prime. His breathing seemed to catch in his throat and he took a moment to pull himself back. 

“Yes, but he won’t show up.” Hordak said, more to himself than to Glimmer, “Welcoming ceremonies, yes, he’ll go to them. Smaller ceremonies like this? If it can be passed off to his Alpha, it will be.” Yes. Horde Prime never attended these small little events. He would decline the invitation, and send his Alpha instead. 

“Oh shit.” Double Trouble said, eying Hordak, “You’re actually terrified of this guy, aren't’ you?” 

Hordak didn’t answer, he just gave Double Trouble the sharpest glare he could be. Double Trouble put their hands up defensively. “Hey, I’m just making a statement. It’s important for me to know!” 

“You would be too.” Glimmer said, not looking at Hordak. “If you knew half the stuff we knew.” 

“Let’s say I saw some shit myself in the Fright Zone, hmm?” They tilted their head at Hordak, “And there’s good reason I’m not there now.” 

“Alright then.” Glimmer said, “I’ll get on with the planning!” She looked to Hordak, “I’ll take care of everything. You’ll need to have some kind of speech prepared-“ She turned to Double Trouble, “Which means you’ll need to have a speech prepared.” 

“You write it up.” Double Trouble said to Hordak, “And I’ll take it to the stage!” 

Hordak nodded: a speech he could do. He didn’t even mind giving speeches, normally. 

“And Morgana is going to make you a new outfit for it.” Glimmer said, “Official robes and all that. A cape.” She frowned, “Maybe I should make you a badge or something.” 

“I’m sure that’s unnecessary.” 

“Oh, Hordak, it’s all unnecessary!” Double Trouble said, “But what’s a good show without costumes. Let the nice sparkly princess dress you up and give you a nice shiny badge.” 

Hordak gave a low growl as he glared at Double Trouble. “Queen.” Hordak corrected, “Queen Glimmer.” He glanced at Glimmer, who was giving him a very confused, very surprised look. He shrugged his shoulders. “I am working for you. You are my Queen, and you will be addressed as such unless you give leave otherwise.” 

“Interesting.” Double Trouble said as they watched Hordak carefully. 

“T-Thanks.” Glimmer said, looking confused and surprised at the same time, “It’s not a big deal though-“ 

“You want the pomp and circumstance.” He said, “So you should be addressed by your formal title. Unless you state otherwise.” 

“So… Can I call you Princess Sparkl-“ 

“You… you can call me Glimmer.” She said to Double Trouble. 

“As well,” Hordak continued, “I am well aware of the need for ceremony and show in politics.” He hissed. “But I don’t think that creating a badge for a temporary position is necessary.” 

Glimmer frowned, “A small badge.” She said, “Nothing too fancy, I promise!” 

“If you absolutely insist.” Hordak finally said. 

“Excellent… uh… now you should go see Morgana.” 

“I should?” Hordak quirked a brow at Glimmer, picking up on the nervousness in her voice. “Why?” 

“She didn’t seem happy that you didn’t inform her about your new wings. She has concerns about her measurements and your clothing now. She’s… Not happy. 

Hordak cursed under his breath, and took off down the hallway. He stopped, turned, and pointed to Double Trouble, “You do not need to follow for this.” 

“Aww. But I need to see you interact with more people.” 

“I’ll spend the whole night being ‘social’ after this if you wish.” 

Double Trouble beamed, “That sounds like a very fair trade!” 

Without thinking about the deal he had just made, Hordak ran off to find Morgana. 

  
  



	93. Measurements

Hordak only just managed to keep himself from running to Morgana’s Atelier. He didn’t necessarily know why he was so scared of her wrath; there was very little that she could actually do to him. 

Still, he felt he didn’t want her angry with him. 

He got to the Atelier and knocked. A slightly distracted voice bid him to enter. He took a deep breath, and pushed the door open. 

The normally neat Atelier was in a state of chaos. Fabric and patterns were all over the place. Jade was busy pinning together pieces of fabric while Morgana was hunched over a desk in the back, busy working on designs. 

“- Of course I can get the work done in time, but if she wanted formal clothes for everyone then a few weeks of warning have been useful. As it is-“ 

Jade glanced up from her work and saw Hordak standing in the doorway, his wings wrapped tightly around him. “Uh. Mother?” She said tentatively, “Hordak is here.” 

Morgana froze, looked up from her work, and turned to face Hordak with an almost enraged glare. “YOU!” She snapped. She scurried over to him and pulled him into the Atelier, “You grow wings, you gain muscle mass overnight and you don’t BOTHER TO THINK that MAYBE the clothes I made for you wouldn’t fit right anymore!” She closed the door behind him and locked it, “When you’re wearing my work you’re displaying my art! If you’re wearing clothing that doesn’t fit you right, then you’re making a mockery of my art! You’re making a mockery of my work!” She put four hands on her hips, and rose up on her remaining legs to make herself taller, “Is that what you want to do!? Do you want to make a mockery of my work!? Generations of experience and artistry gone to WASTE because you didn’t bother to make sure your clothes fit you right!” 

Hordak wanted to say that they still felt like they fit just fine. He wanted to say that they were still relatively comfortable. He wanted to explain that he had just been busy. Instead, he found himself nodding his head down with his ears low, “Sorry.” He muttered. He only just kept himself from saying ‘sorry Ma’am’. 

Right. That was why she didn’t want to invoke her wrath. Even without the power to hurt him, Morgana had a terrifying, intimidating presence when she was angry. She would have made a great Force Captain. 

“Don’t apologize.” She snapped. She pointed to a screen in the corner. “Go get undressed so I can take your new measurements.” 

This time, Hordak knew better than to protest or argue. He went over to the screen and ducked behind before starting to pull off his dress. The sooner he got this over with, the better. Unfortunately, his wings had a different idea. He tried to pull the dress over his head, but his wings got stuck somewhere - he wasn’t sure where- and left him struggling between trying to get himself free, and trying not to tear the clothes. 

He should have brought Entrapta with him. He should have known that Morgana would insist on new measurements, and that he’d get stuck in his dress again.q

“Do you need some help there Hordak?” Came Morgana’s voice.

Hordak wasn’t sure how long he had been struggling for, or how long Morgana had been watching. “It would be appreciated.” He managed to say, trying his best to at least keep some dignity in all this, even as his ears flicked down low and burned under the fabric caught around his head. 

Morgana gave a heavy sigh and roughly pushed his wings out of the way and helped him get the rest of the dress off. “See, if you had come to me when you got those things, I’d have been able to design some clothes that’s a little easier for you to get in and out of.” She muttered as she pulled the dress off and set it down on a nearby chair. She already had measuring tape in her hands, and her little notebook opened up. 

“I am not in the habit of removing my clothes in public.” 

“Yes, yes. Put your arms out.” She demanded. Hordak did as he was told and Morgana started taking her measurements again. “Not only do I have to make formal wear for you, but I have to make a whole new wardrobe as well. If I had known you’d be growing wings I’d not have bothered fixing up your nightgown.” 

Hordak felt his already burning ears twitch as she mentioned the nightgown. He remembered how upset he had been when they got torn. Of course, it was all because of the Permafrost detox. 

“...My thanks for repairing it regardless” He said. “As well, you won’t need to use these measurements for new formal wear.” 

“I am not making ill-fitting-“ 

“What I mean.” He said quickly. “Is that I won’t be attending the ceremonies. There’s a shapeshifter who will be taking on my form from before I grew these things.” He managed to puff out his wings slightly. “So, the former measurements should be useful for that.” 

Morgana huffed, but didn’t stop taking her measurements. “Well, that means I don’t have to change what I already have done. Still, I’ll need to make a new base pattern for you.” She frowned as she took a few notes, “I’ll also have to alter some projects I’ve been working on.

She continued working in silence, muttering as she took notes. After a moment, Hordak cleared his throat. 

“You do very good work.” He said. 

“I know.” She glanced up at him, almost smirking, “You liked the clothes when you got them, didn’t you?” 

“They were comfortable and practical. They suited me fine.” 

“I know how to tailor a fit.” Morgana said, “You gave me any person with any shape, and I can make them look fantastic.” She made a dismissive noise, “It’s far better than having something synthesized and mass produced.” 

“Well, when producing something for a military, style is not nearly as important as function.” 

She gave another dismissive noise. She took the last of her measurements and threw Hordak’s old dress at him. “Put that ill-fitting thing on.” She snapped. “Unless you want to stroll around my atelier in the buff- I have something to show you.” She turned, stopped, then turned back to Hordak, “Unless you need help with your wings again?” 

Hordak gave a grunt which Morgana took to mean yes; she wasn’t wrong. She carefully helped him maneuver to get his wings through the back of his dress. 

“There.” She said. “I already have some ideas as to how to make this a little easier for you. Anyway. Follow.” She turned and strode to the other side of the room, Hordak following behind her. She brought him around a corner to a side room which had something hidden under a sheet. 

“I normally don’t show people unfinished works.” She sniffed as she pulled the sheet off what it was hiding, “But I figured that since this is a little out of my expertise, it could use some feedback. 

She had made armor. 

“Entrapta has helped with this.” He muttered as he circled it. He’d be able to pick out her work anywhere. The armor was sleek and smooth, the arms and upper torso covered completely, and armored boots that went up to mid-thigh. It was polished almost to the point of being reflective. Under the armor was a deep purple dress that stood out in stark contrast to the silver.

  
  


“It needs to be altered now.” Morgana said, “And I did consult with several people on the armor itself. I do have some questions about practicality for you specifically-“ 

The armor was in many pieces, allowing it to move freely while still looking relatively strong. He reached out, thinking it might actually be silver at first but then discovered it was iridium.

“So many joints in the metal might make it less durable, but it will allow me to move more easily.” He said more to himself than to Morgana, “As it stands now, that’s more important.” His old armor had to make him stronger, and provide more defense since he couldn’t move as fast as he liked, and his reflexes weren’t as good as they used to be. “That’s good.” 

“Now here’s a question though.” Morgana asked as she circled Hordak, examining him much like he was examining the armor, “If I were to make armor for your wings, would that keep you from being able to fly?” 

“No.” Hordak said idly as he reached out to examine the shoulders of the armor, “My inability to fly keeps me from being able to fly. Something to keep them out of the way would be more beneficial.” 

“I have some ideas.” Morgana said, “Though, I need to work with Entrapta more. She has specific ideas, and wants to ensure that it’s all done to perfection. Any ideas she might have mentioned to me, I’m sworn to secrecy.” 

“Should I try to act as though I never saw this armor then?” Hordak asked. 

“Oh no, I told her that I needed to confer with you to make sure this will work for you.” She gave Hordak a stern glance, “You should know by now that I’m far more discreet than that!” 

“Just making sure.” Hordak said. “It looks good…But I have concerns with the boots.” 

“Oh?” 

“I have strange feet, and my boots normally have to be very specially made… It might be best if I do that myself-“ 

“You can HELP.” Morgana said, “And I’ll even look at your old boots for reference, but it’s going to be part of the whole picture, so I need final say on the aesthetics.” 

Hordak frowned. “You realize that this will be for combat, yes?” He asked, “Aesthetics aren’t impotan…” He trailed off as Morgana suddenly looked at him with a fierce, angry look. 

“Aesthetics are always important.” She hissed. 

Hordak fell silent and just nodded. At the very least, he knew that Morgana would make him look good. 

=======

  
  


After an hour of going over the construction of his boots and allowing Morgana to examine his feet, Hordak finally started back to his room. He was walking a little slower because he had allowed Morgana to “borrow” his boots with the promise that she’d have them back to him by tomorrow morning. This meant that he was now walking through BrightMoon in his bare feet, his little claws scraping at the floor as he walked. He really hoped he managed to keep from smacking his feet off something and breaking a toe. 

He got to his rooms, and was about to open the door when he noticed a note stuck just below his eye level. He frowned, and opened it up. 

_ Hordak; _

_ When you’re done with Morgana, go to the library. You promised you’d “Spend the whole night being social” if I wanted, and that’s what I want.  _

_ Entrapta is up for it, and she’s already here.  _

_ If you decide to back out, I’ll just entertain the princesses with my impersonations. _

_ Love,  _

_ -Double Trouble  _

_ XOXO _

Hordak crumpled the note as he gave a low growl, then turned and headed to the library. Even without the threat, he had indeed promised that he would be social for the night, and he wasn’t one to go back on his word. 

Still, he had to wonder what torments were waiting for him. 

  
  



	94. Munchkin

It took Hordak longer than normal to get to the library on account of his bare feet, but he got there without incident. If he had remembered that he had promised to be social after dealing with Morgana, then he would have insisted on keeping his boots for tonight. Not only were his feet very delicate, but they were so different from the average Etherian foot that they got a lot of stares. 

He even caught the normally stoic BrightMoon Guards looking at his long, bat-like toes. 

Once he got to the library, he nearly knocked, but then remembered that it wasn’t a private room, so he just opened the door and stepped in, wondering idly who else might be with them. Entrapta and Double Trouble he knew would be there, but Hordak was sure that there was probably someone else. He found his mind suddenly racing over all the possibilities. And surprisingly out of all the people that it could have been, he found the list of people he didn’t want around to be surprisingly short. Angella and Micah, of course, and Shadow Weaver. 

He opened the door, and the chattering her heard at first stopped as he stepped in. He looked around, and felt himself freeze for just a second.

The room was full. Tables had been pulled to the center of the room. And chairs set around it so it was much like their meeting room now, but instead of maps and plans there was a pile of board games on the center of the table. Entrapta was there, of course, and the moment Hordak stepped in she went up to him and wrapped her hair around his arm as she led him to the table where Mermista, Perfuma, Glimmer, Adora, Bow, Frosta, Scorpia, Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio were sat. Double Trouble sat at the far end of the tables, lounging in their chair. They were thankfully not shapeshifted into anyone in particular. 

Unexpected. He felt a part of him slip into ambassador mode. He took a deep breath and was about to make some vague pleasantries when Entrapta suddenly said. “Hordak? Where’s your boots?” 

Every set of eyes flicked down to look at Hordak’s feet. He cleared his throat as he hurried to the table. “Morgana wished to borrow them.” He said, “She’s making-“ 

“Wait… wait a sec.”. Scorpia said, “I don't pay a lot of attention to feet, but I know that... I mean.” She looked down at Hordak’s feet, “They’re not normally that long, are they?” 

Hordak sighed as he took the closest seat, which happened to be next to Frosta. “No. They are not. My boots are specialized, and my toes curl under-“ 

“Oh wow.” Perfuma said, glancing under the table, “You have tiny little claws on your feet!” 

“I’d hardly call them tiny-“ 

“And they’re painted! They’re so cute!” 

Hordak flushed and curled his toes under his feet. 

“... You paint your toenails?” Kyle asked softly. Hordak glanced at him and could swear that he recoiled under his gaze. 

“... Not normally.” Hordak finally said, “They were done in Mystacor.” 

“You went to Mystacor?” Kyle asked. Lonnie nudged him. 

“Yeah he did. Remember? Just after we got here.” 

“Ooooh, right. I forgot.” 

“Is that odd?” Hordak asked, his ears flicking back. He drew his claws, “These were painted as well.” 

“I think Kyle just didn’t expect you’d have your nails painted, sir.” Lonnie said. After an awkward moment she cleared her throat. “Looks good though. Suits you.” 

Hordak grunted and retracted his claws. 

“Right so.” Double Trouble said as they leaned against the table, “Now that we’re done admiring Lord Hordak’s cute lil’ feet and his toe-beans-“ 

“He has TOE BEANS?” Scorpia squealed. 

Hordak leaned forward and pinched the bridge of his nose; it was going to be that kind of evening.” 

“- Hordak has promised to attempt to be social, and lovely Scorpia here has figured out a little event that might help.” 

Scorpia was looking under the table with bright, sparkling eyes, but when she heard her name she pulled herself back to attention. “Oh! Right! Well, uh.” She glanced over at Hordak, “Well, I don’t know what you like to do. You know, to be social. Normally you just stay in your lab and do lab stuff. I know Entrapta doesn’t like to just hang out. She likes to be doing something. Sciency things ideally but we don’t really have a lot of sciency things we can do together. SO, I thought game night might be best!” She gestured to the stack of games. “I found a bunch of games! But… I don’t think I expected so many of us-“ 

Double trouble was looking through the games as she spoke, and pulled out a couple of cream colored boxes. ‘What about this?” They asked. “Munchkin?” 

“Oh! Uh, well, that's a fun card game, but I think we have too many people for it.” 

Double Trouble looked around the room, their eyes lingering on Hordak, then flicking around to everyone else. “That’s fine.” They said. “Play as teams.” 

“We don’t an even amount of people though, and-“ 

“Oh I can sit out.” Double Trouble said, “I’m more here to observe anyway.”

“What about ‘Cards Against Etherians’?” Mermista said, “That’s a lot more fun.” 

“I don’t know if that would be appropriate for Frosta.” Perfuma said carefully as she glanced at the youngest princess. 

“Why not?” Frosta demanded, her eyes narrowing. 

“Well, there’s bad words and content that-“ 

“Wait.” Hordak said, finally removing his fingers from the bridge of his nose. “Wait. You’re telling me that you let Frosta fight like an adult. You let her put herself in danger and fight in a literal war, but bad words and questionable content is a step too far?” 

“Yeah!” Frosta said as she stood up, “I fight with the rest of you! I fight like an adult! You should treat me like an adult!” 

“I don't’ necessarily think she SHOULD be fighting - which you all know.” Hordak said with his ears pinned back, “But if she’s fighting and risking her life, then I don’t think that some bad words or slightly graphic content is a problem.” 

“See! Hordak thinks it’s fine!” 

Hordak gave a sigh. “Fine is a stretch, I just find there’s a certain level of hypocrisy in thinking that you’re too young to hear a bad word when they’re fine with you being in combat.” 

“.... So… Cards against Etherians?” Scorpia asked as she looked down at Frosta. To Hordak’s surprise, Frosta actually flushed and sat back down. 

“.... I actually really like munchkin.” She said quietly. “It was just the principal of it.” 

Hordak went back to pinching the bridge of his nose. 

“I’m already getting so much material.” Double Trouble said. 

“Hordak? Sir?” Scorpia asked, “Are you good with Munchkin?” 

Hordak glanced at the pile of games on the table. “I have ever placed any of these. Ever. I don’t know any of them, so I have no input.” 

“Great!” Double Trouble said, “Munchkin it is then.” They glanced around, “Team up, and work in groups of two so that you can play more easily!”

Hordak nodded and nodded to Entrapta, but before he could say anything, Double Trouble just said ,”No.” 

“No?” 

“No. I have plenty of references of you and Entrapta. I need to see you interact with someone else… maybe…” They glanced around the table, and let their eyes fall on Kyle. 

“You.” 

“Me?” Kyle’s voice was several octaves higher than normal as they looked in horror from Double Trouble to Hordak. 

“Yes! You! You work with Hordak.” 

“Oh! That’s great!” Scorpia said as she clapped her claws together, “He’s good at Munchkin, so he can help Hordak get used to the game!” 

Entrtapta looked up at Hordak, an unspoken question in her eyes. 

“It’s fine.” He muttered. 

Entrapta nodded, got up, and then very quickly leaned in and gave Hordak a quick. Peck on the cheek before she got up and switched seats with Kyle. Hordak felt his ears burn. He wasn’t used to the public displays of affection - even the minor ones, and he could feel eyes on him. He could practically feel the glow coming off of Scorpia as she repressed squeals. 

Still…he couldn’t help the brief flicker of a smile that came over his face. 

“Sir?” 

Hordak hadn’t noticed that Kyle was now sitting next to him. He jolted up and looked down at the much smaller, very terrified looking ex-soldier. Hordak could only remember interacting with him directly twice: once when they had infiltrated the Fright Zone, and one particularly embarrassing situation before Horde Prime had arrived. Hordak felt his ears flick down as he cleared his throat. 

“It’s not sir.” 

“Oh.. right.” He looked away, “Uh.. what should I call you?” 

“Just Hordak is fine.” 

“Ah… uh, ok! And uh. You can just call me Kyle then.” 

Hordak was about to say that he intended to, but realized that his first instinct would have been to call him Cadet. 

“Very well, Kyle.” He said.

Silence. The cards were being dealt out. Entrapta was apparently teaming up with Scorpia, and was already looking over her cards with excitement. Maybe this was for the best: Hordak had no doubt that if he and Entrapta were to work together, they would dominate the game. 

“So…. You’ve never played this before?” Kyle asked. Hordak only shook his head. “Ok… can I see your cards?” 

Hordak sighed as he picked up his cards and showed them to Kyle, preparing to be taught how to play a silly game. 

At least it probably wouldn’t be as bad as playing poker with Sea-Hawk. 

=======

-a half hour later- 

“Alright.” Hordak said idly, “I’ll attack it then.” 

Hordak wasn’t really invested in the game. There was a little skill involved, but it seemed mostly a case of luck. 

“And you beat it?” Double Trouble asked. Double Trouble had offered to keep score since they weren’t playing. 

“Yes, I-“ 

“Nah, you don’t.” 

Hordak glanced up, frowning at Mermista. “Yes, I do.” he said. “With my level and bonuses-“ 

Mermista threw a card at him, hitting him in the face. Hordak shook his head as it fell to the table where he could read it. 

IT’S SO FLUFFY I’M GOING TO DIE  
+12 to monster. 

Monster creates an illusion of an irresistibly fluffy   
And adorable creature. You stand in paralyzing awe

Hordak read the card twice, then looked up at Mermista. “Why?” He asked, “I’m two levels below you. You could save this for when someone is about to win.” 

“Oh Hordak.” Mermista said as she smirked at him, “Munchkin isn’t about winning or losing, it’s about messing with people. And I thought it would be hilarious if like, you lost to something because you were overcome by it’s cuteness.” 

Adora, who was working with Mermista gave her a high-five as she held back a laugh. 

“I got nothing to block that.” Kyle said, “Sorry.” 

Hordak’s eyes narrowed as he was defeated by cute. “Alright.” He said, “Good to know what the actual goals of this game are.” 

========

A card was slipped into Hordak’s hand. He glanced down and saw Frosta just nod quickly at him before looking away. 

“This is?” 

“Take it.” Frosta said, smirking. 

“...Do the rules allow you to just give someone a card?” He asked, his ears quirking up in confusion.” 

“Cheating is allowed.” Frosta whispered. “Getting caught cheating is not.” 

Hordak repressed a smirk as he subtly slipped the card into his hand, showing it to Kyle quickly before turning his attention back to the game.

========

At about the two hour mark, Perfuma had broken out some fizzy drinks that were made in Plumeria, and it was only after his second glass that Hordak realized that it was alcoholic. It went right to his head, and almost without realizing it, Hordak’s voice got louder, and his actions more animated. 

“Wow.” Mermista muttered as she watched him play a card down with a flourish. “You’re a lush, aren’t you?” 

“Lush?” 

“Uh. She means you get drunk real easy, Lord Hordak.” Scorpua said carefully. 

“Oh.” Hordak said, swaying slightly in his seat, “Yes.” 

“Yeah.” Perfuma said, “I bought this because it’s really weak!“ 

“Hordak processes alcohol differently than we do.” Entrapta said, “Even something weak like this will go to his head quickly. But he never gets hungover.” 

“Well that sounds useful.” Double Trouble muttered as they watched him.” 

“I’ll sober up fast.” He said quickly as he played another card to win his turn.

=====

Mermista was about to win. It had come down to Mermista and Adora vs. Hordak and Kyle. Of course as soon as Mermista had messed with him earlier in the game Hordak had started taking it seriously, gaining levels quickly. It became clear that one of them would win, and the other teams had taken sides, either helping or hindering depending on who they wanted to win. 

But now… Mermista was about to win. Every card that could have been played to stop her from winning had been played or blocked. Her character card had a pile of curses and blessings on it. 

“I think I got it.” She said, beaming as she picked up a dice, “I just gotta roll.”

Silence as she rolled the dice. It tumbled across the table and finally stopped, showing the number. 

“I DID IT!” She said, cheering in uncharacteristic joy, “I did it! I beat it! By one point!” She pointed at Hordak, “The great space general, beaten in a card game-“ 

“No.” Hordak said. He pulled the card that Frosta had given him earlier and slammed it down on her character with a bang. As he pulled his hand away he pointed at her. 

“Chicken. On. Your. Head!” He said forcefully with a tone and glare that had in the past been reserved for intimidating soldiers, “-1 to each dice roll.” 

There was silence around the table. After a moment, Scorpia started chuckling, then burst out laughing. Hordak felt his ears flick in confusion as the rest of the table - mostly his former soldiers- broke out into laughter. 

“What?” He demanded. 

“Sorry sir-Hordak.” Kyle said, “It’s just… it’s really funny to see you so seriously put a chicken on someone’s head”

The rest of the table dissolved into laughter. After a moment, even Hordak - aided by the linger effects of alcohol - gave a low chuckle. 

“Oh…” Kyle said, breathless once the laughter had died down, “We’re stealing that monster.” He played a card that let them face the monster that Mermista had beaten, “And since everyone used all their cards on Mermista… I’m guessing that we’re free to go ahead, and beat it?” 

Silence now around the table as everyone gawked at Kyle, who just gave a little smile as they looked up at Hordak. “I was stockpiling bonus cards once I got this one, just in case.” He looked around. “So… can anyone stop us?” 

“Shit.” Lonnie finally said, “I think Kyle just beat us all.” 

Hordak looked down at Kyle with a grin, “Well played, Kyle.” 

“Thanks si- Hordak!”


	95. drunk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is late  
But it’s here now! :D

Another game of munchkin passed before Frosta started falling asleep, and went off to bed. Hordak thought that that would be the end of it, but apparently not. 

“Oh no.” Double Trouble said as Hordak got up to leave, “Just because the youngest princess is calling it a night, doesn’t mean you’re free yet.” 

“Come on sir- er, Hordak.” Scorpia said, “we can try that Cards against Etherians thing?”

Hordak gave a dramatic sigh - still rather buzzed from the drinks earlier - and sat back down. 

“I do not necessarily have a choice.” He stated as he sat back down. 

Other princesses did have a choice. By the time the cards were dealt, it was Hordak, his former Fright Zone troops, Entrapta, Double-Trouble, and Mermista who broke out some bottles of purple liquid. Everyone else had decided to go to bed.

“You’re not gonna wanna drink this stuff.” Mermista said as she brandished a bottle at Hordak. “Like, not unless you water it down. A lot.”

“Oh. Wow.” Scorpia said as Mermista passed her a bottle, “Huh. Uh, I guess we’re getting tipsy with Lord Hordak.” 

“You can’t play this game sober.” Mermista insisted. She settled into her seat after she passed out the drinks. “Come on. Let’s do this.” 

  
  


=======

Another 3 hours later, Entrapta was asleep at Hordak’s side, her hair twining around him. Double Trouble had actually joined the game since there were now so fewer people, and took great joy in explaining some of the more esoteric slang terms which Hordak didn’t know.

“Honestly.” Double Trouble said, taking in the mortified look on Hordak’s face after they had explained a particularly interesting piece of slang, “How do you not know these things? I thought we wouldn’t have to have these awkward chats if the kid wasn’t around.” They leaned forward, giving Hordak an innocent stare as they rested their chin on their hands. “Hordak, do we need to find someone to give you ‘the talk’” 

“Etherian is not my native language!” Hordak insisted, his face burning with alcohol (He had decided to risk one more bottle of the weak stuff that Perfuma had left behind) and embarrassment. “And much of the cruder slang is lost on me as I have not had a need for it.” 

Double Trouble chuckled, yawned, then leaned back and gave a giant stretch, “Well then, Mr. Former-lord of the Fright zone. I think I need my beauty sleep.” They

stood up with an almost liquid grace, and made their way to the door. They turned and blew a kiss to Hordak. “Ta ta. See you tomorrow.” 

Hordak was left staring at the door after Double Trouble had left, then released a deep breath. 

“...So you don’t like Double Trouble then?” Scorpia asked as she watched Hordak

“I am personally ambivalent.” Hordak said as he gathered up his cards, “I dislike being observed so closely.” 

“So what, now that they’re gone, you’re leaving?” 

Hordak almost did a double take at the sound of disappointment in Mermista’s voice. He looked at her, surprised. She just rolled her eyes and looked away. 

“Figures.” She said, “You’d have to be forced to be social.”

Hordak frowned as the looked over Mermista, then at his former troops. “What?” He finally snapped, “Do you -want- me to stay?” 

“Well.. one more game?” Scorpia said as she waved the cards in her claw, “Without you worrying about Double Trouble ‘observing’ you?”

“Entrapta should be brough to bed-“ 

“She looks pretty comfy.” Mermista said, “And you can take her back after one more game.” She pushed another bottle of the drink that Perfuma had brought towards Hordak, “Come on. One more game.” 

In Hordak’s time on Etheria, he had never been begged to stick around for games; Entrapta had been the only person to ever seem to want his company. But now, Princesses and former troops were encouraging him to sit and drink and play games with them. It wasn’t a political move, and as far as he could tell they had no alternative motives. 

They just wanted to spend time with him. The list of people who wanted that was exceedingly short- First DH, then Entrapta. As it was with both of them, Hordak found it difficult to say no. 

“Fine.” He muttered as he settled back into his seat, “One more.” 

===== 

Exhaustion became a factor for the others before it hit Hordak. Hordak was certain though that he would be sleeping longer than normal tonight. He didn’t drink often, and didn’t drink a lot when he did, but today was a very close second for the drunkest that Hordak had ever been in his entire long life. 

Mermista managed to stumble her way to her rooms, waving at the others as she stumbled. 

“Night guys. Night Princess Hordak.” 

“Princess Hordak?” Scorpia said, trying hard not to laugh. Hordak sighed. 

“A nickname she decided to throw at me, and apparently she forgot that I have ammunition against her.” 

“Ammunition?” Kyle asked as he leaned forward, very much flushed from drinking himself, “What kind?” 

“I will let it slip this once.” Hordak said. “She lost at munchkin. I can let her have that.” 

Kyle got up, stretched, and nearly fell over. Thankfully Rogelio caught him. “Oh.” Kyle said as they stumbled to their feet, “I uh.. guess i drank too much.” They laughed, “I should get some sleep too.” 

Rogelio sighed and got up - he had drunk much less than Kyle had- and got up to help Kyle get to their room. 

“Night Lord Hordak!” Kyle called out as they were led from the room, “Had fun playin’ cards with you!” 

“It was fun!” Scorpia said with a laugh, then quickly she started gathering up the cards, “I mean, not going to lie, it was also a bit surreal. You know. Playing cards with you. Getting drunk with you.” She glanced up at Hordak, “You always kept to yourself before. I mean, I guess that's what you do when you’re in charge?”

“I aware forc- Scorpia.” He frowned as he rose to his feet, entirely preparing to make his excuses and bring Entrapta to their room, but once he was on his feet he found himself unsteady. His wings puffed out and he landed back in the chair rather painfully. He heard Scorpia gasp in shock as he just sat there trying to get his mind to process what had just happened

First, He was drunk. This was obvious at this point, but he had to lay it out for himself 

Second, while this was not the first time he had been drunk, nor the drunkest he’d been in life, it was the first time he had been drunk since he got his new wings, which threw him off balance. 

Third, while he might be able to stumble back to his rooms, he’d not be able to carry Entrapta. 

“-you hurt yourself? Are you going to be ok?”

It took Hordak just a moment to realize that Scorpia was speaking to him. He frowned as he looked up at her, and after a moment shook his head. 

“I appear to have drank more than I expected.” He said simply, trying very hard not to slur his words.” 

“Oh. Well. Yeah,. I mean, no offense sir, but you’re clearly drunk.” 

Hordak felt a growl escape his throat, “Clearly,  _ Force Captain.”  _

“.... Can you walk?” 

Hordak slowly and carefully pulled himself to his feet with his wings tightly wrapped around him. “Yes.” He said. “I can walk.” He’d have to hold onto the wall so long as everything was spinning as it was. “I cannot carry Entrapta though. “

“Oh! Well, I can help.” Scorpia said. She leaned down and very carefully picked up Entrapta with her strong arms, then turned and smiled at Hordak, “Ok! You lead the way sir- Hordak.”

Hordak growled again and stumbled away from the table and to the door, holding onto the wall once he got there. Once they were in the hallway, Hordak used the wall to keep himself up as he made his way to his rooms, with Scorpia following close behind. 

“You sure you’re going to be ok?” She asked, “You won’t need help, or get sick or anything?” Scorpia asked. 

“I think this counts as sick.” Hordak muttered, “but no. Once I’ve slept a few hours I’ll be fine.” He wished he could will himself to sobriety. There were some species that could, but he was not one. “I shouldn’t have been drinking.” 

“Why not?” Scorpia asked. 

Hordak stopped and turned to glare at her, “Because now I'm stumbling through BrightMoon like an idiot, hardly able to get to my rooms on my own power while you carry my mate in your arms behind me.” It surprised even him how much he hissed out those words. 

Scorpia didn’t seem to notice his snapping. She just gave a little squeal as her eyes sparkled. “Your mate!” 

Hordak grunted and focused on making his way back to his rooms. 

“Oh. Hey. By the way.” Scorpia said as she caught up. ”Thanks.” 

“For?” 

“Well. I mean.” She looked aside, “you let us have games. In the Fright Zone.” 

“Why wouldn’t I?” He said, “What you did in your free time was no concern of mine.” 

“Yeah, I know, but…” She frowned as she walked beside him, keeping an eye in case he fell over while she carried Entrapta, “Like...If one of Prime’s guards caught us playing a game? They’d ask what the point of it was, and if we said it was just for fun, they’d burn it right there.” 

“Yeah.” Hordak muttered, “They’ll do that.” 

“Have they ever done it to you?” She asked. 

“No.” He said, “I didn’t play games.” He frowned, “Well, correction. I didn’t play games at the home base, and I didn’t play pointless games.” 

“What did you do then?” 

“Logic puzzles when I wasn’t doing research.” he said, “And there was this one racing track around the Desert Rose Nebula.” 

“You raced? Like in the ships we have in the fright zone?” 

“No. In space. Zero gravity on space bikes.” 

“Were you good at it?” She asked. 

Hordak couldn’t help the faint grin that came over his face. “As far as I know.” He said, “I still hold the record for that track. Though I’ve been here a long time. Lots could have changed.” 

“Oh. Yeah. Well, if you had a record there, I guess you were good then! Though..” She looked away, “It’s different with you, but it’s hard to imagine those other clones racing and having fun.” 

“There was only one I raced with.” He said. “And he’s the Alpha now.” 

“Ah.” Scorpia said. 

They approached the rooms. Hordak managed to open the door, and let Scorpia go in first. He stumbled in after her and managed to fall into the chair near the door. 

“I guess you were pretty good friends with them, huh?” She asked as she brought Entrapta to the bed and gently set her down. Imp was laying on the bed and gave her an angry screech as she moved him. “Sorry lil’ guy.” She said as she set Entrapta down. 

“I would not have called them a friend.” Hordak said idly. He suddenly didn't feel good. 

“No? But... you raced with them, right? And you trust them now, right?” She pulled covers over the softly snoring Entrapta, “Why wouldn’t you have called them a friend?”

Hordak leaned back in the chair, staring at the swirling ceiling above him. “We didn’t have friends in Prime’s horde.” He said simply, “You had others that you might have worked well with, but we didn’t have friends.” 

“You… weren’t allowed friends?” 

“It was considered deviant. A distraction.” 

“Man… that’s awful.” Scorpia said, “I mean, everyone needs friends. You let us have friends.”

“Etherians need emotional support from friendships, I discovered.” 

“I mean, so do you.” She said, She smiled and turned to say something to Hordak, but her face dropped and she suddenly put her claws up to her mouth. “Oh gosh.” She said suddenly. “I’m sorry Hordak. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.” 

Hordak froze and looked away from the ceiling as he took in her horrified look, finally feeling the tears starting to trail down his face. He felt his ears flick down as he realized that at some point in this conversation he had apparently started crying. 

_ Why? _ He asked himself,  _ what’s wrong with me? _

He sat upright, and was about to attempt to stand up, to order Scorpia to leave but before he could she suddenly pulled him into an unexpected hug. 

“I’m sorry.” She said. “I didn’t even think about what I was saying. I was just talking. I’m sorry.” 

Hordak wasn’t entirely sure what she was sorry about. He wasn’t entirely sure what she was rambling about. 

He also wasn’t entirely sure why he didn’t push her away immediately. It took her a moment to realize she was hugging him, then she pulled away instantly. 

“Sorry. Sorry. I’ll just. I’ll go? I’ll go. You’re here safe, I’ll go. Just…” She stopped, looked at Hordak, then looked away, “You’re good, right? I mean, you’re… You’re better than Prime, ok? And I’m sorry that you had to go through that.” 

She left without saying another word and without waiting for Hordak to respond. 

He didn’t understand. He couldn’t understand; his head was spinning too much. He got to his feet and stumbled to the bed. He managed to worm his way under the blankets and pulled Entrapta into his chest as he wrapped his wings around her. 


	96. Surprise

“... So, how was your day?”

Hordak pulled himself from his conversation with Entrapta – they had been discussing the defenses for the other kingdoms– and looked across the dinner table to Glimmer. 

Right. He was supposed to be social 

It had been almost a week since game night, and while Double Trouble was still observing Hordak daily they agreed that just sitting and watching him work wasn’t very useful, So they had made a deal: Hordak and Entrapta worked on their own all day, but they had dinner with everyone else in the dining room each night to allow Double Trouble to observe them properly. 

Hordak gave a sigh, “Very productive.” He said, “I finished the programming I’ve been working on. “

There was a beat of silence around the table. After a moment, it was Spinerella who finally answered, “So… We’re going to do it soon?” She glanced at the spot where Mermista normally would be sitting – she and Sea Hawk were entertaining Horde Prime at the Regatta and wouldn’t be back for a few days.

IHorde Prime had been too compliant, and too quiet in allowing the princesses to waste his time. It was worrisome; Hordak found himself waiting for Prime to lash out, to say that he didn’t want more of his time wasted. Every day that he didn’t seemed to cement in Hordak’s mind that Prime was doing his own research. 

That worried him too.

“Not quite.” He said with a frown, “We have more work to do on the defensive tech for the kingdoms. Entrapta is still building her new bot-“ 

For a moment, Entrapta seemed to vibrate in her seat, “I can’t wait to show you!” She said, “She’s so beautiful! You’re going to love her, I just know it!” 

Hordak felt his ears perk up as he watched her excitement, watched her hair frizz, and felt her hair tighten around his wrist.

He loved her so damn much. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Double Trouble smirking, and saw them move their ears to give that same, dopey, lovesick expression that apparently Hordak did whenever Entrapta did something he found endearing. Or when he talked about her. Or when he saw her. At least Double Trouble wasn’t taking on Hordak’s own form at the moment– they had just taken to shifting their ears bigger and moving them as they observed and mimicked Hordak’s own reactions. To Hordak’s embarrassment they seemed to have a good grasp on the language of the ears now. 

Glimmer nodded. “It might take a while longer, but we still have time.” She said, “Horde Prime hasn’t suggested that he wants to hurry things along. Horde Alpha seems content just to act as a messenger to Prime. They’ll be around for the ceremony tomorrow, But I doubt that they’ll be doing much else” 

“Content is a stretch.” Hordak muttered. He glanced up as a messenger hurried in and rushed up to Glimmer, “That reminds me of something they said -“ 

The messenger leaned down and whispered into Glimmer’s ears. Hordak frowned as he considered the ceremony. He wouldn’t be in the spotlight - Double Trouble would be. Entrapta would be with them though and while it was true that Hordak would be watching from a nearby balcony for trouble, he still didn’t like this. He was so worried about an attack, another assissination attempt or- 

“Oh fuck.” Glimmer said once the messenger had finished relaying their message. The room fell silent and all eyes went to Glimmer. 

“Glimmer!” Perfuma said, gesturing at Frosta, “Language-“

“I can say fuck if I want.” Frosta said, “I fight with you, I can curse if I want!” 

Hordak almost regretted saying that stuff during game night, but he ignored Frosta’s cursing and Perfuma’s scandalized look and brought his attention to Glimmer, his ears twitching back with concern. 

“Something is wrong?” 

“Yeah. You could say that.” She said as she looked around the table. “Horde Prime is coming to the ceremony tomorrow.” 

Hordak was absolutely silent for several moments. It felt like his stomach had just dropped out of him. Horde Prime was coming. Horde Prime was coming to Bright Moon. Horde Prime was actually coming to see him be appointed- 

No. No no. He shook that idea out of him. Horde Prime was not coming to see Hordak get appointed anything. There had to be some kind of alternative motive. There had to be something that he wanted! If Horde Prime was coming to Bright Moon, then it was a very very bad thing. 

Still… A part of Hordak – one he hated as soon as he heard it – hoped that maybe Horde Prime was just coming to see him. 

Hordak shook that idea out of his head, and brought his attention to more important things. “I am NOT comfortable being so far away from Entrapta if Horde Prime is going to be here.” Hordak said. There was no arguement to his words, no room for debate. It was just simple fact. “The original plan will not work.” 

“I guess we could disguise you as a guard…” Glimmer said thoughtfully, “And have you closer to us-“ 

“Sweetie.” Double Trouble said to Glimmer, “Hordak is a good foot taller than your tallest guard. He’s going to stand out. Besides, that’s fine for the ceremony itself, but what about the afterparty? “

“I could assign Hordak as your personal guard-“ 

“Glimmer, Hordak is a TERRIBLE actor.” Double Trouble said, “Also, you think Horde Prime won’t notice either Hordak’s not-human face under the helmets your guards wear, or even the fact that one particularly tall guard has their entire face covered - which I think was your intention.” 

“I could just not go?” Entrapta offered, “I could stay with Hordak away from the party, and -“ 

“Entrapta-“ Lonnie cut in, “Horde Prime knows that you and Hordak are a thing, and the way he talked? Yeah, he’s going to expect you and Hordak to be together.” She frowned and looked at Hordak, “He seemed to know that you’d hate to be away from her. Is that a Chilacian thing, or a you thing.” 

“Yes.” HOrdak said quickly, too panicked to be embarrassed, “I don’t care what I have to do, I’m going to be there, I’m going to be in the thick of things, and I’m going to keep an eye on Entrapta.” 

“Well… If you’re absolutly determined.” Shadow Weaver purred from her seat, “I might just have a solution.” She tilted her head at Hordak, “Unless of course you don’t want me to use magic to fix this.” 

“At this point, I don’t care.” Hordak said, “Just make it work.” 

“Very well.” She said, “Tomorrow morning. Be ready, I’ll go to your rooms with everything I need.”

========

Normally Hordak was expected to spend at least an hour after supper around the other princesses. Double Trouble said that it gave them more material for Hordak in different situations.

Hordak...didn’t mind it. There were normally games and while it wasn’t the same chaos that Game Night had been, there was something almost calming about playing puzzle games with others. There was one, ‘Mermysteries: the Game” that Mermista had insisted on. 

She got very irritated when Hordak ended up being very good at the game. 

However, Hordak had other things to attend to tonight. They wrapped up dinner quickly after learning that Prime would be at the ceremony, and rushed off to prepare. Hordak and Entrapta rushed back to their room and Hordak immediately went to the computer and opened up the system to talk to DH. 

T1: Why is prime coming here tomorrow?

DH: I’ve been fine, thanks. 

T1: Sorry. How was your day? Did you hear the news? Prime is coming to BrightMoon tomorrow!

DH: I only just found out myself. It was changed in his schedule from “No” to “Yes” A few hours ago. You and your friends have been keeping him busy. 

T1: Why did he change his mind?

DH: I don’t know. I only have access to his files, and his systems. I don’t have access to his mind! 

Hordak leaned forward and pressed his hands to his face as he gave a groan of frustration. He had to be more careful– there was no reason to be frustrated with DH. DH had been through enough. DH was doing enough. DH didn’t need him being snappy, even if it was only in text. 

He looked up at the new message blinking on the screen. 

DH: I’m sorry I don’t have more information; I know you’re scared. 

A series of denials and objections filled his head. He considered that if he said no, DH wouldn’t be able to read his ears to tell the truth, but then he realized that DH couldn’t see his ears now to know that he was scared. 

No. he wasn’t just scared; he was terrified. He didn’t know why icy terror ran through his veins, but it had. Judging by the way Entrapta stayed close, her hair twined around him as she tinkered furiously with the defensive bot programming she had been struggling with, she knew he was scared too. 

T1: How do you know I’m scared?

DH: what do you mean how? This is exactly the kind of thing that would scare you. The exact kind of situation; an unknown, sudden occurrence that you’re not prepared for. You’re not afraid of anything if you can prepare. 

Hordak let a brief smile flicker across his face, but it faded at the next message. 

DH: Well, that and bugs. 

T1: You don’t know what alien bugs can do! I’ve seen worms that nest in tear ducts! Do you want eye-worms?

DH: point. Look; Prime will be going to Brightmoon tomorrow with four guards. They won’t be armed, per se, but we both know that they don’t need to be armed. I also don’t think that Prime is planning any offensive maneuvers. He is aware that the princesses have magic, and would use that magic against him. If he was planning anything, he’d be bringing more troops. At least, he’d be bringing more troops to hide a ways away from BrightMoon. He’s not doing that. 

Hordak gave a deep, long, heavy sigh. 

“Is it bad news?” Entrapta asked softly from where she was working. She picked herself up and came over to see the screen. 

“We don’t know why Prime is coming.” Hordak said, “But he’s apparently not planning an attack.” 

DH: If I had to guess, he’s probably going to try to question you. I think he might be getting irritated with all these rituals, so he might attempt to get information out of you. That might be a problem, given that if you speak to prime, your ears will give everything away. 

T1: That’s taken care of. I have a body double. 

DH: …. Did you clone yourself?

T1: No! I found a very good actor who can shapeshift. 

DH: they better be damn good if they want to fool Prime. 

T1: They are. I am not entirely worried. 

Hordak frowned, letting his fingers hover over the keyboard for a moment as he looked to Entrapta. “I’m more worried about you.” He said, “Double Trouble won’t be able to protect you if Prime tries something. Or if there’s an assassination attempt. Or if-“ 

A strand of hair stopped hordak from speaking, followed quickly by Entrapta’s soft lips. “Ask DH.” She said, “Ask DH if Prime has expressed any interest in me.”

Hordak nodded, and went back to typing. 

T1: Has Prime expressed any information or curiousity in Entrapta. 

DH: in a sense. More, he was amused, and curious as to who you had chosen for a mate. He’s aware of her, but I don’t know of any plans for now. 

Too much unknown. He had an inside source, and he still didn’t know what Prime was planning. A sudden feeling of helplessness bloomed deep inside. 

_ How do I think I can beat him? _

DH: I have good news though! 

T1: Good. I could use some good news. 

DH: I have a soldier on the inside here that wants to help us. Well, they want to help me. I clearly didn’t tell them who exactly I was working with. 

T1: One of the clones? 

DH: no. They couldn’t help if they wanted to, and I can’t tell you who it is. I promised I’d keep their identity secret for now– they’re not the trusting kind, but we will have help on the inside. 

“That’s great!” Entrapta said as her hair frizzed out in excitement. “I mean, I thought that anyone who would fight against Prime would be with us, but maybe there’s someone we didn’t think of? Another Force Captain maybe? Ooooh, maybe one of the engineers in the lower decks!” 

“No idea.” Hordak said idly, his ears flicking with worry. “But they could be working for Prime, and just trying to get some information. DH is putting themselves in a lot of danger by accepting their help...But we need the help. Someone on the inside could make a world of difference.” 

DH: Anyway. That’s all I have. Are we done talking about business? Tell me more about the princesses! Did you kick Mermista’s ass again in that clue-style game?

Entrapta laughed, and leaned in to give Hordak a peck on the cheek. “You chat to DH.” She said, “Scorpia wanted to have some girl talk earlier, so I’m going to catch up with her.” She started to move away, her hair lingering on Hordak for a moment before she turned, “Hey. You know that when you’re done… You don’t have to wait for me to come back, right? You can come find me.” 

“I wouldn’t wish to disrupt your…. Girl talk.” 

“Oh that’s fine!” She said. “I won’t be talking much anyway, and really, you’re not a boy or a girl. Maybe we could make an exception for you.” She grinned, “Besides, Scorpia always asks how you’re doing when we’re chatting alone.” 

Hordak felt his ears twitch as he remembered that night when Scorpira had helped him get Entrapta to his rooms, and then how she had been there when he just started crying. He didn’t know if she had told Entrapta about that, but she had asked about him every day since then. 

“Tell her I’m fine… And yes, I’ll find you when I’m done.” 

  
  
  
  



	97. Swap

It was odd for anyone to wake Hordak up. The hour or so he normally needed was never really interrupted as he tended to sleep in the house when every other sane Etherian was deep in slumber. 

However, on this day, just at the break of dawn, there was a knock on the door to his room that roused him. He woke up suddenly, and it took him a moment to realize what he had heard. 

The knocking came again. “A moment.” He called out, not particularly worried about waking Entrapta– nothing short of mention of tech would wake her when she was this deeply asleep. He slowly detangled her from his wings, and himself from her hair, then quickly pulled his nightgown over his head before he went to the door. 

He expected Shadow Weaver, since she had said she’d be around in the morning. However, it was not Shadow Weaver. 

It was Perfuma, still in her own pajamas – a pair of baggy looking pants and a t-shirt with a smiling flower on it. She carried two cups of steaming tea in her hands.

“...can I help you?” Hordak asked after a stunned silence. He really didn’t know what else to say- why was Perfuma here at this hour? 

She looked over his nightgown, smiled, then shook her head. 

“No.” She whispered, “i’m here to help you.” 

Hordak sighed and slipped out of the room, closing the door behind him. “How?” 

“Well… I thought that today might end up being hard for you.” She said. “Because of Prime. And I know you’re really worried about Entrapta.”

“So… you brought tea?” 

“Tea, and I wanted to invite you to meditate with me.” 

Hordak felt his brows furrow. Meditation was one of the things that Perfuma had suggested that he do to help with the whole mindfulness thing. He had looked up ways to do it, but he hadn’t found the time. Whenever he thought that maybe he should try, something came up. 

“Do you normally meditate this early?” He asked. 

“Well… no, but Shadow Weaver said that she’d be stopping by first thing, right?” She smiled, “So.. I set an alarm, and thought I’d get up extra early before you had to deal with it all.

Hordak frowned as he looked towards the nearest window. “Why would you get up this early for that?” 

“... Well, Honestly? I’m a little worried about you.” 

Hordak’s stock response of “i’m fine” or “you should be far more worried about yourself” died in his throat. 

“I mean, we’re all a little worried about you. Just, I thought I could help. So.. here I am!” She passed him the cup of tea, and he took it, looking down at her in a daze. “So… you going to come meditate with me?” 

Hordak just gave a little grunt and nodded. It would be rude to say no.

=========

Hordak headed back to his room after a half hour meditation session followed by fifteen minutes of tea, during which Perfuma had wanted to know how Hordak felt after the meditation. 

Hordak had learned two very important things that he had shared with her. 1) Meditation was boring, and 2) he was awful at it. His mind kept flitting from thought to thought, and the idea of thinking of nothing was something entirely foreign to him.

At some point, Perfuma suggested that he use something as a focus. She said that some people used gemstones to help them focus. Hordak had used the broken first ones crystal that now hung permanently around his neck. He felt oddly foolish when he tried to follow Perfuma’s suggestion to “let your energies flow through you and to the pendant” but he tried it anyway. 

“How do you think about nothing!” He had ranted afterwards as she made him more tea, “How do you just turn off your brain!?”

Perfuma had seemed almost amused at his irritation. “That’s kinda the point.” She said, “You’re bad at it now. But if you get better, you’ll learn to control your mind and your thoughts. If you can control your brain more easily, then you can steer it away from ideas of topics that might cause you to have a panic attack.”

Hordak hated how much sense that made. He also hated how bad he was at the whole thing; he didn’t like being useless at useful things. 

Still; Perfuma had given nothing but good advice in this matter so far, so he’d try the nightly meditation she suggested. 

He got to his room, and as he entered the bedroom door he was immediately tackled by Entrapta who wrapped her hair and arms around his waist. 

“I didn’t know where you were!” She said, “I woke up,and you were gone, and your dress was still here-“ 

Hordak felt his ears flatten as he embraced Entrapta, “It was early. I thought you’d still be asleep when I returned.” He said. “Perfuma wanted me to try meditation before Shadow Weaver approached. 

“... in your pajamas?” 

“I didn’t want to wake you by fiddling around to get dressed, and it was only out in the garden. You were up late last night, and you’ve been working hard this last week-” 

“Well, I want to get everything done as soon as possible!” She said. Now that Hordak was there and clearly safe, her worry had melted away, “I’m so close to getting it done! The defensive stuff, and my own bot! Oooh, I wish I could show you, but it’s going to be such a great surprise!” She gave him one last squeeze and then let him go as she started to dress. Hordak chuckled and followed suit and started to change into his proper clothing as well. 

“How was the meditation then?” Entrapta asked. 

“Boring. Tedious. I’m awful at it.” Hordak said, “It won’t help me much today.” He sighed, “Though, Perfuma says it’s a process. I don’t have time for processes.” 

“I’m sure it’ll work out.” Entrapta said, “You can do pretty much anything you want to, given time.” 

Even though Hordak knew that time was the thing that they were scrambling to get more of, he felt his ears perk up and flush at the praise. 

=====

There was a knock on the door. Hordak turned around in his chair at the work table as Entrapta spun around and pulled the door open with her hair. Normally, by this time she’d have gone off to work on projects, but she didn’t want to leave Hordak alone with Shadow Weaver, and knew that he was worried about the ceremony later on. 

She wouldn’t leave him today until she absolutely had to. 

The door opened, and in strode Shadow Weaver, followed by Double Trouble and, to Hordak’s surprise, a very nervous looking Sea Hawk. Hordak raised a brow as he looked at them all. 

“Hi Hordak!” Double Trouble said as they strode forward and leaned against the table next to Hordak, “You said you had a little present for me?” 

“Right.” Hordak said. He turned around and picked a box up off the desk. Double Trouble opened it and found a pin with the crest of Bright Moon on it, as well as a tiny little earpiece. “What’s this?”

Put the earpiece on.” Hordak said as he reached for another box on the table. As Double Trouble did as they were told, Hordak took two tiny chips out of the other box, and put one to the back of his head, and the other on the front of his neck. 

There was silence for a moment, then double trouble’s eyes widened as they reached up to their ear. 

“What was that?” Double Trouble said, amused. “I very clearly heard you say, “Testing, Testing.” But you didn’t say anything.” 

“Subvocalization.” Hordak said aloud. “Did you hear anything from the earpiece that time?” 

“No?” 

“Good.” Hordak said. He pointed to the pin, “That pin is a replica of the one Glimmer is going to give you later during the ceremony. Swap it out as soon as you can. It has a microphone in it.” 

“Aww, you wanna make sure I don’t steal Entrapta away from you?”

Hordak felt his ears pin back, and his eyes narrow. “No.” He hissed, “I want to make sure that if Horde Prime speaks in my language - which you can’t speak– then you can at least respond quickly in Etherian.” He shook his head, “Apparently, it’s considered an archaic language, so avoiding using it won’t be a problem. As well, if Prime talks to you about something you have no way of knowing, I can tell you what you need to know.” 

Double Trouble cooed at the little pin, then jokingly looked to Entrapta, “Does he give you little presents too?” They asked. 

“That’s enough.” Shadow Weaver purred, “I have work to do, and you’re very distracting.” 

“Fine, fine. I understand.” Double Trouble took a few steps away, shifting into Shadow Weaver as they did, “Begone common mortal; I must wield powerful, world ending forces which your common, lesser minds cannot begin to comprehend so that I may plot and plan my way to more power.” They spun on the spot at the door, shifted back to themselves, blew a kiss, and took off.

“Well. Now that that’s over.” She took a vial from her sleeve and gave it to Hordak. “You’re going to drink this.” 

“I don't’ think I want to?” Hordak said as he looked at the strange, shimmery purple liquid in the bottle. “What is it?” 

“A strong sleeping potion.” She said. 

“I do need to be awake for the day.” Hordak said. He glanced at Sea-Hawk who still looked horrified, “And why is he here.” 

“Basically.” Shadow Weaver said, “I’m putting your body to sleep, and linking your brain with Sea Hawks. Sea Hawk has his own potion to drink which will put his mind to sleep, but not his body. Basically, you’re going to borrow Sea Hawk’s body for the day.” 

“Excuse you?” Hordak frowned, and looked over at Sea Hawk, “You agreed to this?” 

“Mermista asked me to help.” He said, trying to put on a brave face, “And even if it means being trapped in the body of an evil alien overlord, I won’t let Mermista down!” 

“I’m neither evil, nor an overlord. Not anymore...” Hordak said, pinching the bridge of his nose as he sighed. “Why him?” 

“You can’t be a princess. Well, at least not one with powers. The disconnect between mind and body will nullify a princesses powers- something people might notice. Entrapta might work in theory, but she’s expected to be at the ceremony as well. Also, if something does happen we need the princesses to be able to fight. Finally, Prime hasn’t had any interaction with Sea Hawk. I’m informed you’re a terrible actor, so you won’t need to work hard to fool him. “

Hordak frowned. He still didn’t like this, even with the relatively solid reasoning. 

“It was Sea Hawk, or Swift Wind.” Shadow Weaver said after a moment. 

“.. I guess i’m being Sea Hawk for the day.” Hordak sighed. 

“Good. Go lay down on the bed, and then drink the vial.” 

Hordak got up and went to sit on the bed. He opened the vial and gave it a quick sniff- it smelled of elderberry, dandelion, and some bitter, sharp smell that he couldn’t quite place. He took a deep breath and then drank the whole thing in a few gulps. Quietly, he put the vial back down on the bed, and waited. He turned to Shadow Weaver, and was about to ask how long it was supposed to take, but then it was like a light switch had been flicked off somewhere, and he was thrown into blackness. 

He felt his body slump onto the bed, but after that it felt like he was spinning. It was the oddest sensation he had ever felt - his body was asleep, but his mind was still wide awake. He thought to try to move something, an arm or a leg, but it was as though he couldn’t even find his body. 

Was this what it was like when people were in comas?

He suddenly felt a pull. An odd pressure in the forward part of his mind- 

And the light switch was turned back on. He woke with a star, sitting in the soft chair next to the door. 

The room was different. Wait, no, It was the same room, but it was wrong. The colors were off- some were less vibrant and some were more vibrant. The smells he had gotten used to were dulled as well. It was like a strange screen had been put before him, and everything was different. 

Was this how Etherians normally saw the world?

“Hordak?” 

Muffled. It was Entrapta’s voice? She put a hand on his arm, but it felt weird. It didn’t feel like Entrapta- at least not to him. Her voice sounded muffled, as though he was hearing her from underwater. He looked down at his own hands - pale, Etherian hands. 

He felt very weird. He was wearing too much clothing. He had pants on, and he hated that. Eyelashes felt strange as he blinked. The hair on his face was itchy. He rubbed his arms and realized that there was hair on his arms as well. 

“Hordak? Is it you?” 

“It’s me?” He said in a voice that was not his own. Even talking felt off; the normal vibrations that he felt in his throat from the control of his other vocal cords was gone, and his voice felt oddly flat to him. 

His heart was beating, not humming. He was breathing too fast, but somehow not hyperventilating?

He glanced at the bed and saw his body laying down on the bed Entrapta had put a blanket over him. He had never considered how big he was compared to the Etherians– just how small they were compared to him. Now, in the smaller Etherian body his own form seemed massive and intimidating even in sleep. 

Well, it would have been intimidating were it not for the cozy blanket, the twitching of the ears, and the dull chirping from his mouth.

“Good.” Shadow Weaver said. “The ceremony is in a few hours. Take some time to get used to being Etherian before then.” She said as she turned to leave. 

Hordak stood up on unsteady feet, but quickly found his center of balance. Entrapta was at his side, holding onto him. 

“Hordak?” She asked softly, “Are you going to be ok?” 

He looked down at Entrapta, who seemed so much bigger, so much taller now. He was used to her being so tiny! He was used to her smell, the feel of her hair and skin on his. He was used to the way her touch seemed to instantly calm him. 

It was only now that he realized that all she had to do was touch him to make him happy, normally. That must have been the chemical bond. There had been some question between the two of them as to the actual effects. They were strong, and very pleasant. It was in their absence now that he could appreciate them, and miss them. 

Still. This made him realize something. He glanced at the door to make sure that they were still alone, then took Entrapta’s gloved hands in his new Etherian hands, and gently kissed the fabric.

“Good news.” He murmured against her hands, “Chemical bonding or no; I still love you. 

  
  



	98. Cake

‘Hordak’ entered the reception room, trailing behind Queen Glimmer. Entrapta was at his side, a strand of hair twisted loosely around his wrist.

Loose. It was normally tighter. Her mask was up, but nobody seemed concerned. To be fair, nobody seemed to notice; all eyes were on Hordak. The casual chattering stopped as he entered, and then only came back as soft whispers. 

Hordak, the imposing ex-overlord; clad in his sleek, shining armor and refined new ambassador gown of deep blues and subdued purples. He gazed around the room, his eyes never lingering too long on one person. He looked more intimidating, more collected, and more imposing than the real Hordak had ever considered himself. 

The real Hordak idly wondered if Double Trouble was a better Hordak than he himself was.

“Come on,  _ Sea Hawk.” _ Mermista grumbled, taking the real Hordak by the elbow, “Stop gawking at  _ Hordak.” _

Hordak frowned and rubbed at ‘his’ elbow which he had struck off the corner of a table just moments before entering the reception room. He knew it would probably bruise, along with the collection of other bruises that were slowly starting to form on his arms. 

“I can’t believe you’re so clumsy.” Mermista muttered as she pulled Hordak towards the other princesses. 

‘I am not.” He hissed, “This body is too short. I’m used to tables being at hip-height for me.” 

Mermista shook her head, “At least Shadow Weaver put Sea Hawk asleep.” she grumbled, “Like, If you’ve done this to his body, I hate to think of the damage he’d do to yours. He’d probably set you on fire or something.” 

“He’s not in my body, you realize.” He said. Shadow Weaver had made that clear at Hordak’s concern that the real Sea Hawk might wake up in his body and not know how to breath or something. “He’s still in his own head… just asleep.” 

Hordak reached up and rubbed his ears for a moment to try to shake free the water that seemed to be stuck in them before remembering that he didn't’ have water in his ears; this was just how Etherians heard. 

“Hey  _ Sea Hawk _ !” Frosta said as she ran up to them. Hordak felt his lips twitch into a half-smile as she ran, “How’s your… new outfit?” She let her eyes trail over Hordak. 

“I hate it.” He tumbled. “I hate everything about it. How do you live like this.” 

“I know. It’s a tragedy.” Mermista said as she rolled her eyes.

Frosta grinned, and took Hordak by the hand as she started to pull him to the snack table, “Come on.” 

  
“Hey, where are you going?” Mermista asked as the tiny ice princess pulled Hordak away, “He needs to stay close to-” 

“He’s never tasted real cake before.” She said to Mermista, “Or cookies. Or real chocolate. Or-” 

“Ooh.” Mermista said, smirking, “Yeah.” She looked to Hordak, “You should try a bunch of things while you’re like this. You know, enjoy some stuff while you can’t get sick from it-” 

“Oh! There’s a chocolate mousse that-” 

“Nothing with eggs.” Hordak said, feeling the blood drain from his face. It was an odd sensation, and one that he didn’t think he’d soon forget.

“But like... They won’t make you sick now, will they.” 

“No. Eggs.” Hordak said again, more firmly this time, “They’re disgusting. I may vomit if I find out that you’ve fed me something with eggs in it.” 

“You know.” Mermista said idly as she examined her fingernails, “Sea Hawk has eggs for breakfast every day. You probably have some scrambled eggs in your stomach now.” 

He gagged, and put a hand to his face, covering his mouth. Mermista looked at Hordak with wide eyes, “Oh. Ok. So like, you really do hate them.”    
  


“There might be some stuff with eggs in it.” Frosta said carefully, “But you’d never know it! Come on, try some cake with us!” 

Frosta wasn't done trying to convince him when Entrapta and  _ Hordak _ – who Hordak was starting to think of as DoubleDak, came up to the table as well. 

  
“Princess Mermista, Princess Frosta.” DoubleDak said as cooley as possible, then with a quick, careless glance at Hordak, “ _ Sea Hawk.”  _

Hordak gave a brief nod, “Ambassador Hordak.” 

“It is not Ambassador yet.” He said stiffly, “As of now, I have no proper title.” 

Entrapta was looking down at the baked goods, taking up a little plate of tiny treats. She glanced over at Hordak, lifted her mask slightly, and gave him a quick, reassuring smile. 

Her appearance may not have calmed him like it did when he was himself, and he couldn’t smell her, but her quick smile at him made him beam.

“Come on,  _ Sea Hawk.” _ Mermista said as she pushed a plate into his hands, “Pick out some treats and stop looking at Entrapta like a lovey dovey dope.” 

Hordak felt his face flush as he quickly turned his attention to the table. To his side, he heard Frosta snicker, 

“You did look all lovesick there for a second.” She muttered. 

“Not helping.” Hordak growled, though a growl from him now didn’t sound as rough and scary as he wanted it to with Sea Hawk’s voice. 

Looking at the table, he realized that he didn’t know what to pick, but after a moment he took up some of the tiny round chocolate-looking things that Entrapta had been picking up. 

“Truffles.” Mermista said to his side. “You’ll like them.” 

“Here.” Frosta said as she took up a collecting of tarts and cakes and cupcakes. She piled them onto Hordak’s plate, “Try all of these! This one is a strawberry shortcake. You’ll like that.” 

Hordak gave Frosta a weak smile, “Thanks.” He muttered. 

“... Are you ok?” 

“I hate being Etherian.” 

Frosta grinned, “What’s the worst part about it.” 

Hordak frowned as he considered it. To him, specifically, the worst part was not being able to sense Entrapta in the same way as he normally did, but he was certain that wasn’t what Frosta meant. 

“Clumsiness caused by sudden different proportions.” He grumbled, gesturing to his bruised arm, “And all my senses are dulled. I can’t hear like I normally do, I can’t smell like I normally do.” 

“Well, it’s only for a few hours, right?” Frosta asked. 

“Right.” Hordak muttered as he stabbed up a piece of cake and popped it into his mouth. 

Oh. 

Oh shit. 

“You like it?” Mermista said, grinning as she watched Hordak’s expression. 

“ t’s fine.” He muttered as he took another bite of the cake. In truth, he had eaten similar things before, but that was well before he ended up stranded in Etheria. There were many ways to replicate flavours for people with certain allergies and sensitivities in the wider universe, and there had been other foods that Hordak had missed.

He’d not tried anything so good since before he had landed on this planet. 

He went in for another bite when he heard Mermista mutter next to him. “Oh shit.” she said, “He’s here. I guess we’re on now?”

Hordak looked up, and looked towards the Entrance. Everyone had fallen silent, and the crowd had moved away allowing Hordak an excellent view of Horde Prime, looking resplendent in fine robes from the far reaches of the galaxy. He had two fully armored clones at either side of him, though they weren’t carrying weapons. 

At his side, wearing a skimpier, thinner dress than Hordak had ever seen her wear before, stood Catra, with the collar around her neck. 

Hordak was suddenly very glad that Sorpia wasn’t here. Most of his former troops were in disguise, lingering around in the crowds in case something happened, but Scorpia was too easily identified with her claws and her tail, so she wasn’t here. She was with Imp and Emily, guarding his sleeping body. If she had seen that Catra had gone back to Prime after Hordak had broken that collar, he knew she’d be devastated. 

A part of Hordak got mad. Anger felt different in Etherians, he found. His heart pounded, and he felt like there was pressure on his head. Scorpia was an absolute treasure! How dare Catra risk hurting her as she had- “ 

“Calm down Sea Hawk.” Mermista said next to him. 

Hordak Took a long breath as he tried to calm himself. He saw DH, or at least the robot that had access to some of DH’s memories walk up to Horde Prime and kneel before him. 

It was only then that he got a better look at Catra – that he actually looked at her. She had that awful, smug look on her face, and at first glanced her arms were crossed before her, but if you looked carefully it looked more like she was holding herself. Her ears were pinned back, and her tail was puffed up slightly. 

She was scared. Something was wrong. A brief flash of sympathy ran through him before he remembered that Catra had sent Entrapta to Beast Island. Catra had hurt Scorpia. Catra had told Prime everything about him. Catra had gone back to Prime herself.”

“Well.” DoubleDak said as he looked down to Entrapta - his ears did that thing - a tilt, followed by a wiggle that made them look like a swooning, lovesick fool, “I suppose we should greet the future ruler of Etheria?” 

Entrapta gave a little nod, setting her plate down. Hordak wanted to take her away. He wanted to take her far away from Horde Prime, and make sure she never had to be within an arm's reach of him. 

But he couldn’t – not right now. 

“You.” DoubleDak snapped at Hordak, “Nothing is going to be messed up with your voice right?” HE tapped at his ear, “In case prime wants to hear some of your awful Sea Shanties?” 

Hordak was confused for a moment, then understood what DoubleDak was actually asking. Hordak nodded, and started subvocalizing “Any species can subvocalize.” he said, “It’s just talking without actually making noise. Most simply can’t do that and let others hear it.” He reached up and gently touched the chip under the scarf he was wearing, then said aloud “This should be fine.” 

“Yes, I see.” DoubleDak said as he straightened up. “Let’s go, Entrapta.” 

DoubleDak and Entrapta strode off towards Horde Prime, leaving Frosta, Mermista, and Hordak behind to watch. 

This wasn’t right. Hordak himself should be at Entrapta’s side. He should be the one to protect her. He shouldn’t be putting her in Horde Prime’s sights. He felt his hands ball up into tight fists, frustration threatening to overwhelm him. He turned away in disgust, cursing in his native tongue. 

Or, he tried to curse in his native tongue. He made half a sound, then started gagging and choking. The air left his lungs ( How could Etherians breathe when they couldn’t inhale and exhale at the same time?) and he doubled over, setting his hands on the table to balance him. 

“Shit.” Mermista said as she took his arm, keeping him steady, “Are you ok? Is this stuff going to make you die?” 

Hordak caught his breath and shook his head, “No.” He croaked– his voice sounded damaged after just a little coughing, “I suppose I was going to- “ He stopped. Prime was here now, and there was a chance that he could potentially hear him. “I suppose I just choked on some cake.” He lied. In truth, he had tried to inhale and exhale at the same time, while activating a second set of vocal cords and moving his tongue in a way that the Etherian tongue could not. 

Still, that reminded him. He took a pen out of one of Sea Hawk’s pockets, and wrote on a napkin; Prime’s hearing is excellent; Keep in mind that he can likely hear you if you’re in the same room.

“Right.” Mermista said as she read it. Hordak nodded, tore the napkin up into tiny pieces, and threw it nto a nearby garbage bin. 

“... So, there’s some time before the ceremony actually starts.” Mermista said, “Should we pay our respects to Horde Prime?... or, I guess not?” 

Hordak didn’t know what kind of expression was on his face at that moment, but it had to be one of pure horror because Mermista suddenly looked at him with sympathy, “I think I’m the only one who should actually greet him, right?” She asked, “Since you know, you’re not a prince, or a princess or anything, so you’re probably not expected to.” 

“Whatever you say, Mermista.” Hordak said, “You’re the princess. I’ll do as you say.” 

Mermista’s eyes suddenly widened with comprehension. “Right.” She said, “Well, I guess I’ll let Hordak introduce the geek princess, and then-” 

_ “What did you say?” _

The words hissed out, and Hordak could feel the anger in him, funneled through Sea Hawk’s body. If he were to explain it, it would be like water pouring through a tiny hold in a dam- the pressure of the rage was building up behind it. 

“Oh… like.. Uh” Mermista looked properly taken aback, and even took a step backwards.

“Sea Hawk.” Frosta said at his side, taking his forearm, “Calm down.” 

Sea Hawk. Right. He was Sea Hawk. He couldn’t get angry at Mermista right now. 

Not yet. 

He took a long, deep breath. He allowed himself a moment to compose himself, then beamed at Mermista with a smile that was a little too wide. 

“My darling Mermista.” He said in a too-pleasant tone, “I know it’s not my place to say anything, but do you really think it’s a good idea to call Princess Entrapta– the most intelligent and brilliant of the princesses, the creator or many horrifying and powerful robots, and Hordak’s mate– such a dismissive and disrespectful thing as ‘Geek Princess.” 

“I… well.” 

“Don’t you think that Hordak would be enraged if he heard you call her such a thing?”    
  


“I mean-” 

“Hordak, who has excellent hearing and who can likely hear you at this moment. Or in most moments?”

“Perhaps-” 

“Forgive me for asking.” He suddenly said, “But have you called her that to her face before?” 

“..... Maybe once or twice-” 

“Then I feel as though perhaps you should apologize at your earliest convenience. Were Hordak to find out… well, he’s on your side now, but I doubt he’d take such blatant disrespect of his mate very well.” 

Mermista gave a nervous laugh, “You know what!” She said, “You’re absolutely right! I should... You know, I’m going to apologize once the ceremony is all done with. Wouldn’t want to interrupt her now.” 

“Right!” Hordak said, still with that falsely pleasant, almost terrifying tone, “Remind me, do the other princesses call her that as well?” 

“It’s only Mermista!” Frosta said quickly. 

“Ah. Very good.” Hordak beamed, picked up his plate, and took another bite. Really, this cake was delicious.

  
  



	99. Indifference

The princesses and their guests sat apart from the general crowds, behind Glimmer and DoubleDak as Glimmer read off from her own speech. It was a very good speech, to be sure. 

Hordak had helped write it. It had all the lines that Horde Prime would like - a new era, Etheria thrust into the wider galaxy, an opportunity to share and learn from other cultures. It was all the various arguments Prime normally gave when he was trying to convince planets to join his empire. If that didn’t work, military maneuvers were next. 

Sitting on his chair between Mermista and Frosta, Hordak shuffled. He was having difficulty being comfortable in Sea Hawk's body; the pants clung to him oddly, he felt too warm. There was hair everywhere that made him itch, and there were inconvenient pieces of anatomy that he wished he could get out of the way.

Everything about being etherian made him uncomfortable. 

“Stop fidgeting, Sea Hawk.” Mermista muttered. 

Hordak frowned, but sat still. He glanced over at Entrapta, who still had her mask down. She glanced over at him, and even though their eyes didn’t catch, he saw her wave a little tendril of hair at him. 

He flashed a quick smile, then looked away, not wanting to make Sea Hawk look like he was mooning over Entrapta. 

Glimmer’s speech was done, and she announced her decision to make Hordak the ambassador to the Horde. Even without his normal ears, Hordak could hear the quiet, disconcerting muttering among the crowd. Glimmer got Doubledak to bend down so she could put the pin on his dress. Just before she did, DoubleDak slipped her the fake pin, which she took and placed on them instead. 

Hordak only saw it because of the angle he was at, and breathed a deep sign of relief. Prime hadn’t spent much time talking to DoubleDak earlier, and there didn’t seem to be much suspicion at the time, but he was positive that Horde PRime would be taking some time to properly question his former general, and Hordak wanted to be ready. 

The microphone was in place. Everything would be fine now. 

DoubleDak’s speech was short, and to the point. It flowed nicely off of Glimmer’s speech, and spoke of the glories that Horde Prime would bring to Etheria, and Etheria’s ‘bright new future’ under Horde Prime’s ‘glorious reign’

An excellent speech. Of course it was - Hordak had written it. Hordak knew all the notes to hit when it came to these speeches, and he knew what Prime wanted to hear. Thankfully, DoubleDak’s ears twitched properly, admiration, determination, hope, all the right emotions to signal to Horde Prime that this was all real; that Etheria joining his empire was the ultimate goal. 

The speech finished, and DoubleDak sat down. There was silence from the crowd below, save for some dull muttering. He suppressed a sigh; of course, he hadn’t expected anything else. These were the people he had been trying to conquer for generations, and they wouldn’t be very excited to cheer at what was seemingly Hordak’s victory speech. 

Then, there was a very loud cheer. 

Hordak hadn’t noticed Frosta stand up on her chair and give a cheer, followed by fierce clapping. A moment later, the other princesses started to applaud. Slowly, the sound leaked out into the crowd, and what had been awkward silence broke into polite scattered applause. 

“Yeah. Whatever.” Mermista said as she started clapping. She nudged Hordak, “Come on Sea Hawk. You know we got Hordak’s back, right?” 

“... Right.” Hordak said slowly as he started clapping as well. “I suppose we do.” 

========

After they speeches they had relocated to another room for a reception- Hordak didn’t know why that was necessary since they had been in a waiting room eariler with food and drinks and plenty of time to talk, but no matter. DoubleDak and Entrapta had been making their way through the room, accepting congratulations that ranged from cold, to sarcastic, to outright hostile. Hordak wasn’t surprised - any kingdoms that would be pleased to see Hordak succeed at something like this were still under Fright Zone Rule, and wouldn’t be attending a party in Bright Moon. 

Still, each of the Princesses went up to DoubleDak, and knowing full well that it wasn’t really him, they offered sincere congratulations for his new position. 

“Don’t look so surprised.” Mermista muttered after Spinerella finished telling Hordak that she was certain that he’d do a wonderful job, “it’s not like ‘Hordak’ hasn’t made an impression on us.” 

“Well…” hordak said carefully, “I’m still surprised given his history.” 

“Well, Entrapta likes him, and we’re working with Shadow Weaver and all, so I guess we’re just ok with him. Anyway, he’s done some good, so whatever.” 

“I suppose I must congratulate you on your appointment.” 

The cold, indifferent voice echoed through Hordak’s earpiece. The voice of Horde Prime. Hordak spun around and was able to find where DoubleDak was very quickly thanks to his height. Entrapta was next to him, hovering up off the ground almost at DoubleDak’s height. Standing before them was Horde Prime, with Catra at his side. 

Hordak felt his fists clench. To his surprise, he saw DoubleDak’s fists clench as well. 

“My thanks, Lord Prime.” They said. Hordak watched the ears and was relieved to see them twitching properly. Joy, contentment, pride. The fact that Double Trouble could now read his ears properly was a minor concerned now that Hordak knew that they could fool Prime. 

At least, Hordak hoped that Prime was fooled. 

“I am glad to have signaled you to Etheria to-“ 

“Yes yes.” Horde Prime said, interrupting DoubleDak. Hordak himself felt his stomach drop as Prime turned away from DoubleDak- whose ears suddenly went down. 

“Miss Entrapta.” Prime said, “I wish I had more time earlier to speak to you. I have looked through some of your work that you did for my defective little brother. Given your….substandard materials and education, I must say, I am impressed.” 

Entrapta backed away from Horde Prime, her mask still down. 

“You have nothing to fear from me, Etherian.” He said, bending down to get a better look at her, “I admire your… tenacity.” 

“Yeah.” Catra snapped, “She was working on the portal for less than a year before she got it working. Hordak was working how long? And he had all the right knowledge and stuff.” 

“Please don’t chip a tooth, Sea Hawk.” Mermista said, putting a hand on Hordak’s shoulder to distract him, “just calm down.” 

Hordak took a deep breath, and relaxed his jaw. Etherian teeth were so fragile…” 

“IN fact, I have a proposition for you.” Horde Prime said, “I have been struggling to find the time to work on opening the portal again, given all the social calls I must make in welcoming this planet to my grand empire.” He rose himself up to full height, “Perhaps you would like to visit the Fright Zone once more. I Understand you were… forcibly removed from it the last time. My deepest apologies for that; I assure you, your assailant has been properly disciplined. 

Hordak let his eyes flick to Catra, but he couldn’t tell from her look if she herself had been punished, or if she had blamed someone else. The cocky look she had managed to pull up when she spoke to DoubleDak had melted off the moment Horde Prime mentioned punishment. 

“I assure you, even on this tiny planet, i can show you wonders and technological advances that you couldn’t imagine. You could work on the portal again as much as you want, and be the first of your people to see the grander universe in millenia. I could offer you opportunities you couldn’t dream of here.” 

Entrapta shook her head, and backed away, “No… thank you.” She managed to say, though her voice sounded strained, “I couldn’t leave… I couldn't leave my mate behind.” 

Horde Prime’s expression didn’t change. His posture didn’t change. His ears pinned back in a way that sent chills down Hordak’s spine. Thankfully, DoubleDak saw it too, and stepped slight in front of Entrapta. 

“I see.” Prime eventually said, “A shame. And my deepest apologies to you, miss Entrapta.” He gave a quick nod to her, then turned to DoubleDak, “As for you -“ there was a twitch to his ears, a hint of disgust, “I suppose I will see you at some point in all these… proceedings.” 

Another quick nod, and then Horde Prime wandered away with Catra at his side. 

“Well.” DoubleDak said, looking at Entrapta, “That went well.” 

“You did very well.” Hordak said silently. “I’m surprised that he didn’t speak in the native tongue at all. Or ask you any other questions.” 

DoubleDak looked around the room, caught Hordak’s eyes, and twitched their ears in a way that very clearly said, “Are you fucking kidding me?” 

“I know. All that work for nothing.” Hordak said back to them. 

DoubleDak shook their head, and offered their hand to Entrapta as they wandered away to the other side of the room. 

“Everything good?” Mermista asked. She was eating shrimp from what looked like a martini glass. She offered one to Hordak, who accepted. They were properly shelled and skinned, so their many tiny legs wouldn’t bother him. 

“Relatively.” He said. He couldn’t go into details right now, not where Prime might hear. 

A part of him said that maybe it would be better for Entrapta to go with Prime. She would have more opportunities there. More access to better tech. But then, to his surprise, he corrected himself.  _ No. Entrapta loves you. She wouldn’t be happy if you weren’t there. And she especially wouldn’t be happy around Horde Prime; she hates him.  _

“You look happy.” 

Hordak turned around to see Adora coming up to him with Bow and Glimmer. They were all dressed in formal wear, and Adora’s sword had been transformed into a fancy piece of jewelry. 

“Do I?” 

“Yeah. I guess you’re having fun, Sea Hawk?” 

“... I suppose?” 

“Just wait until the music starts!” Bow said, “We have a really good band.” 

“Yeah, and I’ll actually get to enjoy it without having Sea Hawk break into a shanty.” 

“I can absolutely promise that there will be no shanties today.” Hordak said firmly. 

“But yeah. We’ll probably just hang out by the snack table. I don’t think we’ll be dancing much tonight.” 

Hordak was about to respond, but suddenly Glimmer, Adora, and Bow froze, They took a step back, then steadied themselves, fixing their faces into polite masks. 

“Well. Princess Mermista. A pleasure to see you again.” Horde Prime’s voice came from behind Hordak, almost making him jump in shock, “I didn’t think I’d see you so soon after your quaint little regatta.” 

Hordak turned around slowly, reminding himself over and over that so far, there was no sign that Horde Prime suspected anything, and that He didn’t have ears to twitch and give him away. 

“And Queen Glimmer.” Horde Prime gave a deep bow, “It’s so nice to finally see you in person.” 

“Likewise.” Glimmer said. She glanced at Catra, “And your charming company, of course.” 

“Ah, don’t mind my little pet.” He said as he put a hand on Catra’s head, “I understand she’s caused you some trouble, but I assure you that won’t be a problem anymore.” 

Catra looked up, glanced at Adora, then looked away. 

“And this..” Horde Prime too a step forward towards Adora, “Must be the infamous She-Ra” 

“You.. You’ve heard of me?” 

“At length.” Prime said. His eyes darted to the wristband on her arm, and for the first time Hordak noticed First Ones runes etched into the metal. “I have been absolutely desperate to meet you.” He leaned forward, “If I must be blunt, You’re entirely the reason I’ve come here today.” 

“I am?” Adora said as she took a step back. 

Hordak felt his stomach clench again. He felt sick. 

“Well, this is a whole thing for Hordak.” Adora said, “I mean, I wasn’t even sure I’d be here, and I’m certain you came to see Hordak-“ 

“I assure you, I have little interest in that - oh… my apologies. I must remember my manners.” He gave a nod to Glimmer, “What  _ Hordak  _ as you call them is doing. Don’t get me wrong-“ gave a little smirk, “If you’re happy with him as your ambassador, far be it for me to disparage your choice. But no, I have no interest in seeing  _ Hordak.  _ I assure you, I came here to see you, Adora. To speak to She-ra.” 

“... Pardon me.” Hordak said, slipping away from the others. He managed to walk halfway across the room before breaking into a run the rest of the way to the door, bursting out into the empty hallway, gasping for breath. 

It hurt. It hurt so much more than he thought it would. Everything did. He didn’t know if it was the Etherian body messing with him, or the way the two lungs struggled so much more than his three to manage his sudden gasping. 

_ It’s fine.  _ Hordak told himself as spots began to obscure his vision,  _ Prime doesn’t care about you. You knew that. You knew he wouldn’t have come here to see you. You know he doesn’t care. You’re nothing to him.  _

He gasped again, stumbling and losing his balance as he held onto the wall. He told himself it was fine. He told himself that it was good, that Prime’s indifference would protect him and DoubleDak from further scrutiny. 

By the time Mermista got out into the hallway, Sea Hawk was sitting on the floor, gasping for breath and unable to see properly. 

  
  



	100. Tea

Mermista grabbed Hordak by the arm and pulled him up, “Come on.” She hissed, “We have to get back in there. Entrapta is in there, remember?” 

Hordak nodded, still trying to catch his breath. This was so much worse in Sea-Hawk’s body; he already felt dizzy because of the reduced lung capacity and need for constant breathing. 

Mermista cursed and pulled Hordak down the hallway and into a nearby bathroom. She let him slump to the floor as he tried to catch his breath. This had been exactly what he was worried about. Entrapta needed him, and he couldn’t help her. He tried to do the thing that Perfuma had taught him, to look around and see things and pull himself back, but all his senses felt so muffled in Sea Hawks’ body that he couldn’t do it. 

Mermista cursed, and looked around the room, trying to figure out what to do, “I’m like, not good at this stuff.” She said with a groan, “Why is this even bothering you. You already knew he’s an asshole.” 

Hordak shook his head. His vision was swimming before his eyes, and he was honestly worried that he was going to pass out. 

There was a knock on the door. 

“Occupied!” Mermista snapped. 

“Yes, I assumed.” Came back DoubleDak’s voice. 

Mermista ran to the door, “Please tell me Entrapta is with you.” She said as she unlocked the door. She didn’t even have it open a crack when Entrapta barrelled in and zipped to Hordak’s side. 

“Hordak?” 

“I can’t..” He gasped, “This. These lungs.” 

Double Trouble locked the door behind them and shifted back to their normal self. They sighed, and then turned to Hordak, “Look. Sweetie.” They said, “I know you and Prime probably got some kind of thing going on, but you’re risking our cover.” 

Hordak felt Entrapta’s hair wrap around him, but it didn’t have the same effect as it normally did; it didn’t calm him.

“Like, it’s not like he’s trying this.” Mermista snapped at Double Trouble, “I don’t get it, but I don’t think he can help it.” 

“He can’t.” Entrapta said, “And it’s worse because he’s in Sea Hawk’s body. Hordak has three lungs, and can hold his breath longer, remember? He’s having trouble in an Etherian body with only two lungs.”

“Oooh.” Double Trouble said as they leaned against the counter, “Yeah, I can see that. The whole you start hyperventilating thing, then you think you’re going to die so you worry and panic more.” 

Hordak didn’t think he was going to die, but then he wondered what would happen if Sea Hawk died. Would Hordak’s mind be stuck in it? Would his mind die? Would his body just be stuck upstairs in a coma until his physical death?

“Maybe you should stop talking.” Mermista suggested as Hordak’s breathing quickened. 

“What even happened.” They asked, “Everything was going alright, then Prime spent two minutes around Hordak and we got this.” 

“It’s complicated.” Mermista said. 

“What, is Prime like Hordak’s ex or something?”

“More like a parent?” Entrapta said tentatively, “If you can call him that. Maybe more just like a creator. I’m more of a parent to my bots than Prime is to any clone.”

Double Trouble’s eyes seemed to light up with comprehension, “Ohh, Iget it.” They said as their tail swished behind them, “I guess Hordak got a whiff of the heavy indifference that prime was laying on me-“ 

“Something like that.” Mermista said. 

“Mmmm, Yeah no. I can see that. I get that.” 

There was a tone to Double Trouble’s voice that slowed Hordak’s breathing; the slightest hint of bitterness. Hordak glanced up and for a split second caught a distant, almost sad expression on the face of the cocky, confidant, flippant shapeshifter. 

It lasted only a moment, then it melted off in a big smile as Double Trouble stood up from the wall, their arms crossed before them. 

“Ladies.” They said, “If you’ll both leave for… let’s say three minutes?”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” Entrapta said. She didn’t seem sure though - Hordak wasn’t responding to her presence and touches as he normally did, and she wasn’t sure how to handle the situation anymore. 

“Three minutes.” Double Trouble said again. 

“Come on, Ge- er, Entrapta.” Memista said as she headed to the door, “I wanna talk to you anyway, and we’re not being helpful here.” 

Very slowly, Entrapta pulled her hair away from Hordak and followed Mermista out of the room, looking back sadly as the door closed. 

Hordak felt awful. Not only was he risking everything because he couldn’t control this damn problem, but he was hurting Entrapta because he couldn’t pull himself together. 

He was hurting her. How dare he. He hated everything about this. He hated that he was endangering her by risking the operation, by putting her with Double Trouble around Prime. He hated that the awful, sad look on her face was caused by him. 

Double Trouble crouched down in front of Hordak. “What do you even want from Prime.” They hissed. Hordak looked up, but couldn’t respond because of their breathing. “I mean, obviously you know that he’s not going to say-“ He shifted into Horde Prime and reached out, putting a hand on Hordak’s cheek, “Such a good little clone. An excellent example of how one of my faithful servants should be.” 

Hordak felt his face flush red as he pulled away from Double Trouble. They shifted back to themselves, “Right. Because you know that the time for any of that has passed. At least, I hope you’d know that.” 

Hordak only managed a nod. He wasn’t stupid.

“So what then?” Double Trouble asked, “What, did you think he’d he’d be proud of you for being BrightMoons ambassador to the Horde?” They shook their head, “Sweetie, no. He honestly and truly does not give a shit.”

Hordak caught his breath long enough to hiss out, “I know that.” 

“Then what?” They asked, “Something like-“ They shifted back into Prime, this time seeming to cower before him, “You! I was wrong about you.” They looked dramatically into Hordak’s eyes, “If only I had known that you’d be my downfall. If only I had known that you could be this capable, this clever-“ they paused as they watched Hordak glance away as they gasped for air, “Ahh. There it is.” Double Trouble said as they shifted back into themselves, “You want him to regret all this. You want him to regret his indifference. The way he treated you.” Double Trouble laughed, “And here I thought you were doing this for Entrapta. Here I thought this was a dramatic love story, but it’s just a sad revenge story.” They leaned forward, “And trust me darling, not one that’ll have a good ending.” 

“I am doing this for Entrapta.” 

“No, sweetie. Otherwise Prime’s utter and total indifference to your existance wouldn’t upset you.” They grinned, “Honestly, more people need to see that indifference hurts so much more than hate, don’t they?” They leaned forward, “So few people actually get that, don’t they. So few people actually experience such total indifference from someone That they think should care about them. From someone they want validation from, right?”

“I don’t need-“ 

“Oh please.” Double Trouble said, “I don’t even need to see your ears; you’re a terrible liar.” They tilted their head, “It’s a little pathetic, actually. You’re trying so hard to be someone that that ass-jackle will approve of, and they don’t even care.” They stood up, “All this posturing. All this-“ they shifted back into Hordak, their ears down and flushed, “I’m not shy!” They sputtered, then they turned, their ears pinned back, their expression stoney, “I have no feelings, I am a warrior, a general. I do not have fun, or laugh with friends, or let my guard down!” They shifted back into themselves, “All that posturing, all that repression to get someone who couldn’t give two shits about you to somewhat approve of you. Meanwhile, the people who actually care about you just want you to loosen up. To relax.” They laughed, “The people who actually care about you want you to be happy and have fun, and you refuse because you want the approval of a distant, indifferent parental figure.” 

“Stop this.” Hordak hissed, their eyes narrowed. They were so angry that they didn’t even notice that their breathing had calmed down.” 

“Aww, truth hurts, doesn’t it?” They shifted into Catra, “It must be even worse seeing me standing next to Prime.” They purred, then laughed, “I’m not even a clone, and I’m the one standing by Prime’s side. What, do you wish you were his little pet? Do you wish you had a little collar on you?” 

“Stop!” Hordak said as he slowly rose to his feet, “I won’t be mocked-“ 

“You mock yourslef.” Double Trouble said as they shifted back to themselves, “You seem to have every chance of happiness right here-“ They waved their hand around themselves, “And you’re so wrapped up in what you think that asshole would want of you that you can’t even properly enjoy it. Not unless you get plastered.”

Hordak stood where he was, his fists shaking. He wanted to deny all of that. None of it was true, he wanted to say. 

But… wasn’t it?

“Prove me wrong.” Double Trouble challenged,“Here’s a little truth for you, sweetie. Parents don’t need to care about you. I don’t care how they make you. Yeah, everyone goes on about how parents bond to their kids and all that, but hey, you know what? That doesn’t always happen. Some parents are just assholes.” They looked away, “Some parents’ just don’t give a shit.” 

“...did your-“ 

“So you have two options.” Double Trouble said as they took a step towards Hordak, pointing a long finger at them, “You can keep pining away for acceptance or love or whatever it is you want from Prime, and let him hurt you every day of your life, Or you can say fuck him, have some fun, and laugh over his corpse when you get this done.”

Hordak didn’t respond. His mind was spinning, though it was only now that he realized that his breathing had returned to normal. 

The door opened, and Mermista and Entrapta walked back in. 

“So like, everything is good?” Mermista asked, “Nobody is dead?” 

“You’re ok?” Entrapta asked softly as she stepped towards Hordak, her hair wrappeing around his wrist. Hordak took a long, deep breath to try to calm himself and drive the anger out of his head. He focused like Perfuma had taught him, trying to take long deep breaths and focus on the image of his crystal.

“I’m alright.” He said. “My apologies for… My poor reactions.” 

“Whatever man.” Mermista said, “We should go back before there’s questions.” 

“Oh, right. That reminds me.” Double Trouble said as they pulled out a flask.

“Do you think that’s a great idea?” Mermista asked. 

“Nope.” Double Trouble said as they popped the cap off and splashed a good amout of the strong smelling alcohol into Hordak’s face. He took a step back, sputtering with his eyes watering as some had gotten in his eyes. He fumbled around for the sink that was nearby, turned on the water, and started to splash water onto his face to rinse off the foul smelling alcohol, and rinse the burning out of his eyes. 

“Sea Hawk had too much to drink.” Double Trouble said, “And ended up being violently sick. He’s feeling better now.” They tilted their head at Hordak, “At least you look like you were sick now. If anyone asks you’ve been drinking double mixed drinks; Screwdrivers.” They put the flask away, and shifted back into Hordak, “Entrapta.” They said, their ears doing that dopey love-sick thing, “Will you join me.” 

Entrapta hesistated, then ran up to Hordak, gave them a quick hug, and then went back to DoubleDak as they left the room to head back to the party. 

“Come on then, Sea Hawk.” Mermista said, “Let’s get back to the party.” 


	101. Dance

Mermista led Hordak back into the reception area. There was music playing now, and most people were milling about idly, talking, dancing, or some combination of the three. As soon as Hordak and Mermista stepped in, Perfuma and Frosta ran up to them as though they had been waiting for them to return. 

“We saw you guys leave.” Perfuma said, “Is everything alr- oh!” She took a step back, holding her hand to her nose. “Hor- Sea Hawk! You smell like a distillery.” 

“Is Sea Hawk drunk?” Frosta asked, her arms crossed.

Hordak was still dazed and out of sorts, but he managed a nod. 

“Yeah, he didn’t realize that the doubles he had been drinking were doubles, and not just normal drinks. Sea Hawk isn’t great at holding his liquor either.

“I’ll get you some coffee!” Perfuma said as she rushed off. 

“Uh huh.” Frosta said, though unlike Perfuma she didn't’ seem to believe what Mermista said. She fell into step next to Hordak, “Well, I’ll stick with you guys then.Just to make sure everything is fine.” 

“Everything is fine.” Hordak said under his breath. “Just not used to drinking.” He looked around, keeping an eye out for Horde Prime. “Where did he go?” 

“Jerk Prime?” Frosta asked, “He asked to speak to Adora. Privately.” She glanced up at Hordak, and caught his almost horrified look, “Don’t worry!” She said, “Glimmer had a couple of Bright Moon guards go with her, along with Kyle and Lonnie. “ She grinned, “Besides, she’s She-Ra. I doubt Prime could take her down on his own.” 

“Didn’t his guards go with Prime?” 

“And that DH, yes, but they’re still outnumbered.” 

Hordak frowned, but nodded. Prime was unlikely to do anything not because he couldn’t, but because that wasn’t how things were done. “Prime probably wants to ask her about the sword. She-Ra. The First ones…” 

Frost was about to ask why, but the band started another song and distracted them. The three of them made their way to a nearby table to rest and to get out of the way of the dancers. Hordak looked around, wondering if DoubleDak and Entrapta had gone with Adora and Prime, but his eyes ultimately landed on them on the other side of the room. 

Hordak felt his cheeks flush. DoubleDak was dancing with Entrapta. The people around them were casting quick looks at the former lord of the Fright Zone dancing with the tiny Pink Princess who was looking a lot less tiny up on her hair. He could tell that people were whispering about it, but he couldn’t hear them.

“Huh.” Mermista said next to him, “She looks like she’s having fun.” 

“She is.” Hordak said bitterly, “She likes to dance, but doesn’t have much opportunity. Probably why she’s dancing with him at all. Taking the opportunity when it comes.” 

“Oh?” Mermista smirked at him, “I’m surprised you know that about her; didn’t know the Fright Zone had dances.” 

“They do not.” He snapped, “She liked to play music from my personal files back when we were in the fright zone. She danced to that.” 

“You had music?” Mermista asked. 

“You had music to dance to?” Frosta asked. 

Hordak glanced around, checking to make sure Prime wasn’t in listening distance. He gave a quick nod, “Yes.” He said sharply, “to both.” 

“Huh.” Mermista muttered as she looked away, “Didn’t know you were the dancing type.” 

Hordak felt his face flush, but he didn’t deny what she said. Mermista suddenly gawked at him in surprise “Woah. You do?” 

“Do what?” 

“Dance.”

Hordak shrugged, Ignoring the surprised looks of both Mermista and Frosta, “It’s considered a social skill.” He hissed, “One I had to be competent at for some of my diplomatic missions.” 

“So you’re, like, a good dancer?” Mermista asked. 

“Passable.” He muttered, “Enough to not make a fool out of myself when necessary.” 

Mermista snorted and looked away, “sure.” She said, “Weird space dancing.” 

“The music and dances of the wider universe are more elegant and refined than you can imagine.” He hissed, “your dances are positively primitive in comparison.”

“Mmhmm.” Mermista said, “At least they know how to dance.” She said as she gestured to DoubleDak. And Entrapta, “You probably just stand there and let her dance around you.”

A slew of arguments hit Hordak’s head at once. He didn’t want to dance with Mermista. He didn’t necessarily want to dance at all… But he didn’t mind it; the music wasn’t awful. He was a little more clumsy, but so long as he didn’t try anything too fancy he was sure he could manage. 

The people who actually care about you just want you to loosen up. To relax. 

He asked himself if he actually wanted to dance, not should he, and not how he would look if he danced. Apparently the people who knew that he was actually Hordak right now wouldn’t care - or if they did, they’d be happy. To anyone else, he was just Sea Hawk.

Prime wasn’t even here. Even if he was, ‘Hordak’ was already dancing. It wouldn’t make a difference. 

“Shit… was Double Trouble right?” Hordak asked himself when he realized that he was worrying about Prime’s opinion of his actions.

Hordak took a long, deep breath before he stood up. Mermista glanced up, a question about to fall from her lips before he stood before her, gave a half-bow, and extended a hand. 

“Technically, I am your ‘date’ tonight.” He said, “I believe this is customary.” 

Frosta laughed in her seat, “That’s not how you do it.” She said, “It’s, ‘Princess Mermista, may I have this dance.’”

Hordak smirked, “Of course. Forgive my manners. Princess Mermista, may I have this dance.” 

Mermista smirked, took Hordak’s hand, and let him lead her to the floor. He caught Entrapta glance at him, and in a brief second she lifted her mask and smiled as her hair gave a thumbs up just before she put the mask back down.

The beat - a simple rhumba. He could manage that even in Sea Hawks’ body. 

“Like, I hope you actually know how to dance.” Mermista said, as she put Hordak’s hand on her waist, “Because I like this dance.” 

Hordak put his other hand on her shoulder, frowning as he realized what she had just done. “You goaded me into this, didn’t you.” He grumbled. 

“Depends.” She said, “If I say I did, will you stop?” 

“That seems like it would be very impolite.” 

They kept up to the solid, steady beat, moving fluidly on their little section of the dance floor. It only took a moment for Hordak to realize that for the first time in a very long time, he wasn’t on display. He wasn’t the center of attention, or even a mild focal point. DoubleDak was, and he was already dancing with Entrapta, so nobody was paying them any mind. Even when he saw DH re-enter the room, followed by Horde Prime and his guards, he felt entirely and totally ignored. He froze only for a moment, nearly stumbling, but then realized that Prime wouldn’t spare a glance for Sea Hawk. 

To be fair, Horde Prime didn’t even spare a glance to Doubledak. Hordak felt his heart race - the beating of Sea Hawk’s heart was slightly scary to him, he was used to a constant hum- but he shook his head and tried to think of something else. Anything else. He was here, dancing. He wasn’t dancing with Entrapta; that would have been ideal, but he was dancing with Mermista. 

And… to be fair, now that he realized that he wasn’t being gawked at, he was having fun. He also realized that he suddenly had an opportunity to pry into something that had been bothering him.

“We used to dance a lot, didn’t we?” He muttered. 

“What, you and Entrapta?” 

“No.” Hordak responded as he looked back at Mermista, then throwing a glance at Horde Prime. “You and me.” 

“Oh!” Mermista said, then looked away, “Yeah, I guess we did, Sea Hawk.” 

“But then we broke up, right?” 

Mermista frowned, and glanced back at Hordak. “Yeah? So?” 

“Why?” 

“Why what?” 

“Why did we break up?” 

“...Are you really asking me this now?” She asked. 

“I am.” Hordak said as he pulled her away from dancing into another couple with a quick spin that she thankfully was able to follow, “Unless there’s a better time?” 

“Ugh..” Mermista said as she looked away, “Why do you even care?” 

“Multiple reasons.” Hordak said. He glanced up again at Horde Prime, who was now speaking to Glimmer, “Primarily? Being around the Ruler of the Galaxy is unnerving. I’d like a distraction if I’m to be honest.” 

“Wow. You like, must be really on edge to admit that.” 

“Secondly though, the entire thing confuses me. Disturbs me.” 

“Oh. Right. Like. Because of the whole-“ She caught Hordak giving a quick glance to Horde Prime. She sighed, “Right. Because like, you’re such a romantic. You think this kinda stuff is forever and all.” 

“More or less.” He said.

“But why do you care?” 

“If I were to say I was speaking to Hordak about us when we went to the Frozen Wastes, and it made me… profoundly sad, would that be reason enough?” 

“Really?” She gave him a look of utter disbelief, “It made you sad.” 

“Shouldn’t it?” 

“I don’t see why.” 

“Humor me. Consider it morbid curiosity; I want to understand.”

Mermista groaned, “Ugh... just. Like. This shit happens, you know?” She said, “I mean... come on. Do you really think that it’s a great idea for a princess, for the ruler of the Salineas to be in a relationship with a pirate with a tendency to burn ships down? I mean, you can even scratch that last part. Just, a pirate.” She rolled her eyes. “And you’re so corny! Why are you like that?” 

“You must have enjoyed that at some point. I’m fairly obvious with it.” He glanced around, and saw Horde Prime making his way to the doors. Was he leaving already?

“I mean… I guess it was kind of cute.” She grumbled, flushing slightly red, “But… That doesn’t change much else, does it?” 

“So… We broke up because I’m a pirate?”

“Well. And like…” She shook her head, “I mean… you’re not really what I envision when I think of ‘my kind’ of guy, you know?” She glanced over at DoubleDak, “In any sense.” 

“So…” Hordak said slowly as he watched Horde Prime, “We broke up because it looked bad?” 

“... I guess?” She shook her head, “I mean, no... Like, there were other reasons-“ 

“That’s good.” Hordak said, relieved. 

“Why does it matter to you?” 

“It makes no sense to me; I am trying to find the logic in this.” 

“It’s romance. There’s no logic.” 

Well, she was right about that. That’s one thing he learned for certain through all this. 

“Look, can’t we just dance?” She asked, “You’re surprisingly good at this.” 

“Mediocre, at best.” Hordak grumbled back as he watched Double Trouble dip Entrapta. He glanced around and saw that Horde Prime was gone now, but DH was still there so he still had to be careful with what he said. 

Mermista cursed under her breath, “Damn, your mediocre is pretty good.” 

Hordak smirked, and pulled her around in a very quick spin before dipping her, “I’ve learned a few tricks.” He said as he glanced towards Entrapta, hoping she was watching. She was. He wasn’t sure if she was happy to see him dancing or not, because her mask was still up. She leaned forward and started to whisper to DoubleDak.

“Right. Because you’re ancient.”

“Because I’m a pirate.” He reminded her.

Mermista sighed, “Why did you have to bring all that up.” She grumbled. 

“It was bothering me.” 

“Yeah…It’s been bothering me too.” 

Hordak looked away from Entrapta, and back to Mermista, his brows arched in surprise, “It has been?” 

“Shush you.” She snapped, “Don’t you dare tell him.” 

“I don’t intend to.” Hordak said, “I’m just surprised.” 

“Yeah. Well, keep your surprise to yourself.” She groaned, “he’s- you’re so damn corny and cheesy, and you tell the worse puns, and your singing is awful-“

“Yes, I agree on the latter.” 

“-and I think maybe I’m like, just used to you? I don’t know.” She shook her head, “I’ll get over you.” 

Hordak frowned, “I am confused again.” He said, “I thought you didn’t care. That’s why we broke up. Isn’t that how it’s supposed to work?” He tilted his head, “There shouldn’t be anything to “Get over.” right?

“It’s complicated.” 

“Clearly.” Hordak said. “And I thought I- I thought that things were confusing for Hordak.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…” Hordak frowned, feeling the heat starting to rise in his cheeks. He was not used to talking about this stuff to anyone but Entrapta, and maybe DH. He might have said that it was none of Mermista’s business, but he brought it up, and he had just been questioning her to satiate her his curiosity, “Well, when the Hordak’s species - when the clones ‘fall in love’ as you say, and once they’re bonded, it’s permanent. Even being able to bond-“ 

“Ok. Wait.” Mermista said, “What do you mean by bond?” 

Hordak gave Mermista a flat look, his cheeks flushing. 

“Oh.” She said, smirking, “You meant when the clones have sex.” 

Hordak cleared his throat, “Yes. Well, That’s how they bond.” He said, “And after that the feelings are permanent. Inescapable.” He frowned, “With all the ‘girl talk’ I’m surprised that Entrapta hasn’t mentioned this.” 

“She mentioned bonding, but never how it works, and she kinda does that whole thing when she talks about Hordak… You know how she gets when she’s talking about computers? The hair puffing out, and how she talks really really fast?” 

“I do.” 

“Yeah. She’s like that when she talks about yo-about Hordak. I don’t get a chance to ask questions.” 

Hordak’s eyes went wide with surprise as he thought of that. Clearly, she didn’t do that around him - she didn’t talk about him to himself, not to explain things. To think that she got as excited talking about him as she did talking about computers made his heart flutter. 

“Ugh… You’re doing that thing. Being all sparkly eyed.” 

Hordak shook his head and cleared his throat. He supposed that that was the Etherian version of his ears doing the lovesick thing. “Yes. Well.” He shook his head, “At least then, when you’re bonded, you know it’s not going to change.” 

“Ooooh.” Mermista said, “I get it.”

“Get what?” 

“You wanna know why, because you’re wondering if Entrapta might do the same thing with Hordak.” 

“That’s not-... I don’t-” He frowned, “I’m sure Entrapta would never want to hurt Hordak.”

“Hey, I get it. Love is, like, hard. It’s scary. And look, Some people do change their minds, but like, I’m a lot younger than Entrapta, right? And she tends to obsess over things.” She smirked at Hordak, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed that.”

“I have.”

“And yeah. The way she talks about Hordak? Well… I won’t say it’s impossible, but I can see her losing interest in bots before I see her losing interest in him.” 

“Apologies,” 

Hordak was startled out of conversation by DoubleDak looking over him, looking tense and angry… at least Their face looked tense and angry. Their ears were set in a permanent state of discomfort and tension… Save for when he looked at Entrapta, “I’m told that it is polite to dance with other princesses at these events.” He said stiffly, “I am told the phrase is to ‘cut in’.”

Mermista smirked, “sure,” she said, “If Entrapta is fine babysitting Sea Hawk.”

Entrapta took Sea Hawk by the wrist with her hair and pulled him away, “I can manage!” She said as she pulled Hordak away to dance, her mask pushed up for the first time that night.


	102. Origins

Apparently, _ Sea Hawk _ was a half decent dancer, and most of the princesses cut in to dance with him at some point through the evening. Hordak didn’t like the crowds and the attention, but If he were to be really pressed to tell the truth, then he would have to admit that he was having a little fun at least. 

  
  


“It’s a shame Scorpia couldn’t come too.” Perfuma said as she was in the middle of teaching Hordak something called a foxtrot. 

Hordak glanced around, but didn’t see Horde Prime or his guards. He didn’t even see DH. “Yes… Well, she felt she’d stand out too much.” He said, “And she has other assignments tonight, along with Rogelio.” 

Perfuma gave a low sigh, “Does she know how to dance?” She asked. “I didn’t know if she did, or if she liked to -“ 

“I am unsure?” he fell suddenly thoughtful- he had plans for her for when Glimmer was throwing that bigger party, the big ball in Prime’s honor. Maybe at that point it’d be easier to have more former Horde Soldiers around them, and she could be at the party. 

And maybe he could get Adora to extend an invitation to Huntara-

“Maybe if she doesn’t, I could teach her?” Perfuma ventured, “I mean, do you think she’d like to dance? I’m a good teacher, aren’t I?” 

“Hmm? Oh, yes.” Hordak said as he was pulled from his thoughts. If Perfuma were to teach Scorpia how to dance, that might make things easier if he got her and Huntara at the ball together, “That might be a good idea, actually.” 

Perfuma gave a little squeal, followed by a laugh, “Yay! I’ll ask her later if she wants to learn, and-“ She trailed off as she looked past Hordak. Hordak stopped and turned around to see Glimmer standing behind him. 

From the look on her face, she didn’t want to ask to cut in. 

“Hey, so uh.” She glanced around, then looked at Perfume, “Hey… I need to talk to you guys.” 

“What’s wrong.” Hordak said as he turned to Glimmer, “Is Ent-“

“Everything’s … Well, not fine, but there’s nothing wrong right now.” She glanced around, “Uh. Maybe you can find Mermista and bring her too? I’ve not seen her in a while” 

Hordak nodded, and went around the room to find Mermista. He had expected her to be at the table where they had sat with Frosta earlier, but she wasn’t there. It took a while but he finally found her in a corner next to the punch bowl. 

“Having fun, Sea Hawk?” She slurred with a smirk, “And here I didn’t think you liked parties.” 

“I don’t.” Hordak hissed, “Come on. Queen Glimmer wants to see us.” 

“Us?” She asked, setting her drink down. By the way she suddenly focused, the way she just stopped and took a long, deep breath, Hordak knew that she was feeling the alcohol. Not too drunk, but not entirely sober. 

“Are you going to be quite alright?” Hordak said. 

“Man… Like, it’s weird hearing you talk like that.” She responded. 

“I always talk like this.” 

“She-Hawk, I mean.” Mermista said, ‘If he had spoken like that before-“ 

“Like… that?” 

“You know. More… ugh. I can’t explain it. You know. A bit more take charge. A bit more formal.” 

“Alright, Come on.” Hordak said as he linked arms with Mermista and helped her away, “Let’s get you to Queen Glimmer-“ 

“And like, don’t tell him this, right?” Mermista said, “But like, If Sea Hawk was a little more intense like you-“ 

Hordak felt his cheeks burn- It was odd to feel them burning without his ears burning as well. “Mermista, please tell me you’re not that drunk.” 

“I’m not.” She said, “Just drunk enough to able to blame bad decisions on the alcohol.“ 

Hordak frowned as he brought her towards Glimmer, and nodded as Glimmer left with Perfuma

“Guess we’re following them.” Hordak said as he pulled Mermista along.

“But seriously. Like, you’re great and all, but sometimes you’re just like,” She sighed, “You’re almost too nice. And like, I like that but-“ 

“Mermista.” Hordak warned as he pulled her along. 

“Nah nah, listen!” She insisted. 

“Whatever you have to tell me, you’re going to regret later.” He warned. 

“Maybe, but listen.” She whispered, “LIke, I know I’m the one in charge, but every now and then, maybe you could-“ 

“Nope.” Hordak hissed as he looked around. He did not want to hear this, “You… We’ll talk about this later, Ok?”

“Promise?” 

An idea struck Hordak, and he gave Mermista the most Sea Hawk smile he could muster, “I promise, so long as you promise that you and Sea Hawk will speak of this first?”

“Done!” 

“Good. Come on.” He grumbled, “I still can’t believe you got drunk. What if something happens.” 

“It’d have happened already!” Mermista protested, “Besides, this is YOUR fault, you know.” 

”I am aware.” He snapped, “If I hadn’t come here in the first place-“ 

“No no. Not that. This.” She gestured idly to herself. “You made me think and feel and shit.” She grumbled. “ You started talking about us, and stuff, and then I started drinking, I was fine, why’d you have to ruin it.”

Hordak sighed as he pulled her along. He had no idea why he felt he had to bring up her former relationship with Sea Hawk, but the idea that they had been together and just... fell out of love was so disconcerting. 

He had to learn how it had happened, but that was a problem for another time. 

He managed to pull Mermista into the room before she said anything else. 

==========

Adora was sitting at a table, her eyes rimmed with red, her hands clasped before her. She looked like she might shatter with one wrong word. 

“What happened.” Hordak asked as he led Mermista to a nearby chair. 

“Prime.” Glimmer said as she went up behind Adora, “Prime happened.” 

“What did he do?!” Hordak asked as his mind ran through everything that might have happened. He couldn’t think of a situation where Prime would cause a real problem in a setting like this. There was a way things were done, and Prime liked to do things right.

“He talked.” Glimmer said, “And-“

“Hordak.” Adora said, her voice soft and quiet, “What do you know about the First Ones?”

Hordak frowned, “You likely know more that I do outside of the specifics of their tech, and even then Entrapta would know more.” 

Adora shook her head, looked as though she would say something, then just put her head in her hands and started to sob. Hordak took a tentative step towards her, unsure as to what he should do. Thankfully, Perfuma was at her side with her hands on Adora’s shoulders.. 

“What happened.” Hordak said as he crossed his arms before him. 

Glimmer looked away, “Well, first? Catra.” 

“Catra?” 

Glimmer shook her head, “I thought you said she’d be his second in command or something.”

“I did not.” Hordak said, “She might be in charge of this planet’s Horde, but…” 

“But the way he treated her!” 

Hordak sighed and sat down across from Adora, his hands clasped before him, “He expects his …Vassals, for lack of better word, to be compliant. Obedient. Catra is not. Catra…” He shook his head, “I was very lenient with Catra when she was in the Horde. If she had acted around Prime the way she acted around me?” He shook his head, “well, in my day she’d have been killed outright and replaced.”

“He wouldn’t let her sit. She had to stand behind him. She had to like, pull his chair out. He made her massage his hands, and she just did it!” 

“He talked to her like she was…” 

“Iike a disobedient servant?” He asked with a raised brow. Glimmer nodded. “That’s what she is to him.” He narrowed his eyes, “And she choose this. She had that collar on again-“ 

“The collar?” Glimmer asked. It occured to Hordak that he hadn’t told Glimmer about Catra in the Crimson Wastes. To be fair, a lot had happened that day and he had assumed that Adora had told her.

“The collar she’s wearing. It’s a shock collar. Horde Prime uses them on his pets.” 

“Pets?”

“Non-clones in charge of planets, or with specific responsibilities. His pets. It’s supposed to be a status symbol, but it’s also a shock collar.” He frowned, “I broke it out in the wastes. She could have left. Clearly she choose to come back.” He glanced at Adora, who was still crying. “Is… that what Adora is upset about?” He asked quietly. 

“Sorta?” Glimmer said, “I mean, it didn’t help, but that’s not the real problem. He wants Adora to go to the Fright Zone.” 

“No.” Hordak hissed, “No hostages-“ 

“He said as a guest.” Glimmer said, “He apparently went though your notes, and realized that Adora’s sword was used to open the portal. He wants to study it, and-” 

“Well she’s not going.” Hordak said simply, “Make up some excuse. Say she’s your royal guard. That’s an easy enough fix-“

“He talked about ‘her people’” Glimmer said. She reached out and put a hand on Adora’s shoulder. 

“What about them.” 

“You have Prime’s files, right?” She asked, “Do you think you could find some real information on them?” 

“I could try.” Hordak said, “But why, what did he say?”

Glimmer glanced at Adora, then looked back to Hordak, “Some not very nice things about the first ones.” She said. “They uh… “ 

“They killed people.” Adora finally sniffled, “So many people. Whole planets. Entire races.” 

Glimmer sighed, “You’re sure you don’t know anything about the First Ones?” 

“I believe that Horde Prime fought them a long long time ago. I believe that their defeat was a result of the failure of the heart of Etheria.”

Adora wiped her eyes, “He said that ...That this thing-“ She gestured to the arm band, “That I’m… I’m just a weapon! That the First Ones would only think of me as a weapon.” 

“It was infuriating.” Glimmer said, her eyes narrowed, “He was all like, ‘oh, you’re lucky to be here among people who will treat you properly. Then he started talking about the First ones, and _ then _ he went on about how she could ‘finally use this weapon’ for good and bring Etheria into the universe.” 

“The normal stuff.” Hordak said. He sighed, then looked at Adora, “You’re not a wepaon-“ 

“You don’t know that!” Adora said, “You don’t know why I’m here! I could be! What if-“ Another choked sob, “What if I was only brought here to be a part of this weapon? What if that’s all that I was born for.” She wiped her eyes.

“You don’t have to.” Glimmer said, “When all this is over-“ 

“No! No I can’t!” Adora said, standing up suddenly, “I can’t! I can’t use the weapon! I can’t be a part of it!” She took off the armband and threw it to the table where it shimmered for a moment, then turned back into the sword, “I can’t.” 

“But like, you kinda have to.” The still drunk Mermista said, “I mean, if you don’t, Prime’s going to take over anyway, right?” 

“And if I do, then it’s just another race the First One’s have killed, right?” She turned to Hordak, “That’s his thing, right? Prime’s? For everything he’s done, he’s never killed off a whole race, right?”

“That...Yes, that’s right.” Hordak said slowly, “Subjugation, or even decimation-“ 

“Isn’t that the same as killing everyone?” 

“No. That’s killing one tenth of the population.” Hordak muttered, “He has no issues with killing if he needs to, but… never a whole race.” 

Adora looked at the band on the table, her eyes narrowed, “Yeah. Apparently that’s what the first ones did. They weren’t just some random race that he tried to conquer, they were a galactic super power.” She looked away, “And they destroyed races. And I’m one of them.” She gave a laugh, “I’m not even one of them. I’m just part of their weapon!” 

“Adora… you’re not.” Perfuma said. 

“.... At the very least, no more than I’m Prime’s weapon.” 

Adora looked back at Hordak. He felt too warm in Sea Hawk’s clothes, too uncomfortable. He felt like the way Adora was starting at him was making him anxious. He wondered if that was an Etherian thing “You princesses keep saying that I’m not one of Prime’s tools. That the clones aren’t. That it’s horrible what they’re doing.” He frowned and looked away, “If you’re going to stay that about me-“ 

“You’re not a clone.” Adora pointed out. 

“Neither are you.” Hordak said, “And you’ve not been manufactured any more than me. Most likely, you’re naturally born, so you have that over me.” 

“...I can’t use the weapon.” She said, “I refuse.” 

Hordak nodded, “I understand.” He said. Their plan was never dependent on this weapon, thankfully. It was an extra, an added tool that they might use. “Though… I hope you’ll still fight as She-Ra?”

“Like, you should.” Mermista said, “Just because you got that sword from some assholes, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use it, right?” She looked to Glimmer who was frantically trying to signal to Mermista to shut up, “I mean, Hordak was made to be a warrior and shit, right? And he’s basically a love-sick space bat now, but he’s still using what he knows and the skills Prime taught him to help, right?” 

“Excuse you.” Hordak said, “What did you call me?” 

Mermista looked at him like she had forgotten that Sea Hawk was actually Hordak, “Oh come on.” She reached out and pinched at his cheeks, “You’re an absolute sap.” 

“I think Mermista needs to go to bed.” Hordak said, absolutely deadpan as she pulled at his cheeks.” 

“Maybe.” Glimmer said as she sighed, “I need to tell everyone else.” 

“Can everyone else wait until tomorrow?” Hordak asked. “Is it vital that they all hear this now?” 

“I’m a little concerned about his invitation to Adora.” She said, “He wants her to go to the Fright Zone. He wants Entrapta too, but-“ 

“He won’t force anyone.” He said, “That’s not something he’d do at this stage.” 

“If I go.” Adora said, “He’d leave Catra alone a bit more, since he could see it bothered me that he was treating her badly.” She said, “And… And he kinda threatened that things could get worse for her-“ 

“She had her chance.” Hordak insisted, “I helped! I broke that collar, and she went back. We gave her every opportunity to get away from him, and she went back!” He took a step forward, “It’s not your fault.” 

“I know that.” She said, “I still don’t want to see her hurt.” 

Hordak couldn’t help the frown that crossed his face. He was cursing to himself. After everything she’d done, after how horrible she’d been, how could Scorpia and Adora still give a damn about her?

Of course, what did he expect. They considered him their friend now right? IF they could see something good in him, they could see the good in Catra

There was a knock on the door. Perfuma hurried over and opened the door to see DoubleDak on the other side. They slipped into the room and closed the door behind them. 

“Where’s Entrapta.” Hordak demanded as soon as he realized that Entrapta wasn’t with them. 

“That’s the problem.” They said as they shifted back into Double Trouble, “I don’t know. She was looking around for you, and then she was gone.” 

Hordak got up from his seat, “How could you.” He hissed, “Prime-“ 

“Left. Ages ago.” 

“For all we know he’s still lingering around somewhere. Or his vanguard is still here. We have to find-“ 

It was like a switch went in his head, and the world went dark.


	103. Search and Rescue

The change was almost instantaneous; He blacked out in Sea Hawks’ body, and when he opened his eyes again he sat up suddenly in bed, gasping for breath in his own body. He winced at how bright the lights were, and how strong everything smelled. He was back to normal but he had been slowly getting used to muted, dulled senses. The sudden increase of all his senses at once threw him off and all he could acknowledge was the chaos around him

He had a blanket over him- or had anyway it had been thrown off him as he woke. There was some strange, patched up stuffed toy next to him - It wasn’t Entrapta’s, he knew that much - which was still sitting placidly next to him. There was a table nearby with a forgotten card game laying on it, and knocked over tables on the floor. Standing at the foot of the bed, Scorpia was batting away small, round, fist sized bots. Rogelio was closing up the large double doors that led to the balcony. Imp was sitting on the bed, swatting at any of the drones that got too close. 

Security drones. They weren’t like the ones that they had dealt with in the whispering woods - they were small and relatively harmless save for their ability to send information. Could Horde Prime see him now? Where was the Data going? 

He could talk to DH later and deal with that.

Hordak scrambled to his feet, knocking the blankets aside. He stumbled his work desk on unsteady feet as Imp leapt onto his shoulder, screeching as he batted away the bots. Hordak got to his desk and fumbled around until he found a speaker with a bunch of wires connected to it. He took some very large headphones from the desk and placed them firmly over his ears, and it was like the sound left the world. He grabbed imp and slipped an identical pair of headphones over his ears.

He hoped it was good enough; he hadn’t had a chance to test this before. He pressed a button on the side of the speaker, hoping that the device would work. 

To Hordak, the scene that played before him was perfectly silent; Rogelio and Scorpia doubled over, their mouths open in silent cries of pain as they covered their ears. The bots in the air suddenly shivered in mid-air, then fell to the ground. 

Hordak turned off the device and pulled off his headphones. Scorpia and Rogelio groaned in pain, turned, and saw Hordak out of bed and at his table. 

“Rogelio, get the window.” Scorpia barked as she ran to the door. She pressed her ear to the door, listened, then unlocked it. “We sent a call for Shadow Weaver.” She said, “She said to call us if anything happened-“ 

“How long ago did this happen.” Hordak demanded. 

“Literally just now.” Scorpia said, “We had the door to the balcone open becuase it was hot, and they just swarmed in!” 

Hordak growled as he turned on his computer. He sent a quick message to the real DH saying what had just happened, and asking him to delete any security footage before it got to Prime. As he finished the door opened and Shadow Weaver entered the room. She glanced up at Hordak and gave an irritated grunt. “I suppose the potion didn’t last as long as it was supposed to.” She mused, “That should have kept you alseep until sunri-“ She trailed off as she glanced at the bots on the floor. She kicked at one, “Should I assume then that all this was for nothing?” She asked, “And that Horde Prime knows that Hordak downstairs isn’t Hordak?”

“Unsure.” Hordak said as he glanced at the computer. No response from DH yet. He wasn’t concerned; it probably meant that DH was just tracking the files and getting rid of them before responding. He turned to Scoirpia and Rogelio, “Entrapta is gone missing.” 

“Missing? Are you sure?” 

“Yes I’m sure! How do you think I wouldn’t be sure!” 

Scorpia looked down at the fried bots on the floor, then looked up to Hordak with her eyes wide with horror, “Sir, if she saw these bots, she would have gone after them, right?” 

Hordak felt his stomach drop as he rushed to the door; She would have done exactly that if she wasn’t engaged with the company she was around. “I have to find her.” 

“You can’t.” Shadow Weaver said, “If Prime were to see you, he’d know that you were lying to him, and that would cause a lot of problems.” 

“Then give me more of that potion.” He hissed, “Put me to sleep, and I’ll go look or her in Sea Hawk’s body if I have to.” 

“That potion has an extremly short shelf llife.” Shadow Weaver said, “I’ll have to make it fresh, and that will take a few hours.” 

“I don’t have hours.” Hordak snapped as he pushed past Shadow Weaver, “I have to find Entrapta, and -“ 

“I’m sorry, sir.” He heard Scorpia say. 

Before he could respond, he felt a sharp sting at the back of his neck. He felt suddenly dizzy, and his vision blurred before everything went black and-

=======

He opened his eyes in Sea Hawks’ body once more, still in the room with Adora, Glimmer, Perfuma, and Double Trouble. He was on the ground, his head in Perfuma’s lap. He assumed she had caught him and made sure he didn’t hit his head. 

“Bots.” Hordak said as he pulled himself up from the floor. 

“What do you mean, bots?” Glimmer asked. “What just happened.” 

“The potion that Shadow Weaver gave me wore off, so I woke up in my own body.” He considered that he was probably in the process of waking up, and the noise that the bots had hurried along the procedure. 

“She gave you more then?” Perfuma asked.

“No. Look, that doesn’t matter.” Hordak said; the reason why his body was asleep again was entirely irrelevant to him, “There were drones in my room. Not like we say in the whispering woods-“ He added as he saw Glimmer’s horrified face, “But drones.” 

“What are they doing?” Double Trouble asked, “Spying on us? Why?” 

“Just because.” Hordak said, “Prime likes to keep track of everyone and everything. The problem is, if Entrapta saw one through a window, she’d have run after it.” 

“Ugh, Of course she would.” Mermista groaned, “She’s always like that. I swear,we should have put a leash on her-“ 

”You will NOT speak about her like that.” Hordak snapped at Mermista, his eyes suddenly narrowed in rage. He could also see her sober up a little within just a few seconds. “You call her awful names, you joke about putting her on a leash. You’re angry at her now for running off- Which she wouldn’t have done if… He snarled and turned to the side, “She ran off because she wasn’t engaged. She was bored. She felt isolated. I was dancing with the rest of you and she left before she felt ignored.” How could he have done that. How could he have-“ 

“Well, if you were spending all your time with her, that would have put everything at risk, and it would have put you and her at risk!” Glimmer said. “There’s no point in arguing over whose responsible, we have to figure out what to do.” 

Despite his panic over losing Entrapta, he felt almost grateful that Glimmer was able to suddenly take charge, to move out of the emotional aspect of this and state what was to be done. He should have been able to do it. 

He’d be angry at himself later. 

“Is she heading to the Fright Zone?” Glimmer asked. 

“No. They’re short range.” Hordak said, “There has to be a hub nearby. It was probably on the ship that Prime came in, but he would have dropped it off away from the castle itself”

“If Prime left, then that ship woul be heading back to the Fright Zone, right?” Double Trouble asked. 

“Maybe.” Hordak said. It depended on a lot of things, and he didn’t have time to explain it all, “We need to get to that ship. We need to get Entrapta out of there.” 

“Maybe she didn’t get that far.” 

“Well, we need to know!” Hordak insisted, “I need to get back to my rooms, I need to get to my Data Pad. I can track Entrapta’s Data Pad from there-“ 

“Dude, isn’t that a little creepy?” Mermista asked. 

“Entrapta and I decided it best if we could track each other.” He said, “In case we got seperated.”

“Alright.” Glimmer said. Without warning she teleported them back to Hordak’s room. Hordak swayed on the spot for a moment, “Give me a little warning when you do that!” He snapped. Being teleported around as Sea Hawk wasn’t as bad as in his own body, but it still wasn’t fun. He looked around and he saw a very worried Scorpia laying Hordak back into bed with Imp at his side. 

“What happened!” Glimmer asked. 

“Well, he was going to -“ She looked at Sea Hawk, “Sorry sir, You were going to run off, so I stung you. I didn’t know that would put you back in Sea Hawk.” 

Hordak frowned, looking at his limp and unconsious body, then shook his head- He had more important things to worry about. “I need to wake up.” He said to Scorpia, “How do you reverse that?” 

“Uh… I can’t.” She said, flushing. 

“It’s fine.” Perfuma said as she took a step forward and put her hand on Scorpia’s large bicep, “I know you were just doing your best.” Scorpia gave her a bashful smile in return. 

“I can fix this.” Shadow Weaver said, “But the goal is for you to not be seen-“ 

“I’m not going to be seen.” Hordak said, “I just need to track down Entrapta. I’ll be leaving the castle for that.” 

“We’ll go with you.” Glimmer said, “We can help-“ 

“No.” Hordak said, “You and Perfuma stay at the party. Make sure nobody notices anything odd.” He turned to Double Trouble, “If you head back to the party, can you make up an excuse for your sudden departure, and Entrapta’s more prolongued one?” 

“Oh, I already got a good excuse, don’t you worry.” 

“Good. Scorpia, Rogelio, Imp, With me.” 

“Wait.” Glimmer said, “You should take Sea Hawk too.” She turned to Shadow Weaver, “Can you wake Sea Hawk also?” 

“Yo, if Sea Hawk is going, I’m going.” Mermista said, 

“Mermista, you’re drunk. Stop.” Hordak said. 

“I can fix all this.” Shadow Weaver said. She turned to Hordak, “You might want to sit down.” 

Hordak sat down in the nearby chair, and nodded at Shadow Weaver, “Do what you have to do.” He said. He didn’t know why he was supposed to bring Sea Hawk, but he wasn’t going to waste more time arguing. 

Besides, extra eyes might be useful. 

Shadow Weaver nodded. She made sigils in the air. Smoke wafted from the glowing symbols and drifted around them, creating a slightly purple fog to envelope the room.

Mermista was affected first, suddenly groaning as she doubled over and held her head. Hordak himself felt the oddest sensation, like an intrusion in his mind. Like thoughts that were doubling over his own, fresh from waking. Slowly, it was first like someone else was waking up in his head, then like someone else was starting to panic. 

Then there was the switch again, blackness, then awake in his own body. 

“It’s over?” Sea Hawk asked. He frowned, then rubbed his head, “No. It’s not. It’s… Entrapta’s missing?” 

“You might have gotten some mental overlay.” Shadow Weaver said to Hordak, “Which is uncomfortable, but might be for the best; now you don’t have to explain anything to him.” 

“And I don’t know why Glimmer thinks I should come either!” Sea Hawk said as he jumped to his feet, “But for Entrapta, and for the very spirit of ADVENTURE, I am more than happy to help you on your quest.” 

Mermista rolled her eyes, “Yeah, no, you should stay here.” 

“Look!” Glimmer said as she turned on them, “If there’s drones out there, that’s all we know about. We don’t know what else Prime brought.” She turned to Hordak, “Wouldn’t your source have known about these?” 

“DH would have known about soldiers, or massive transports. This could just be an extra transport.” Hordak said as he grabbed his Data Pad from the desk. After a moment, he took the speaker he had just used as well. “He could have set up a tiny little waypoint, or there could be a larger ship there. I don’t know.” 

Glimmer frowned, looking like she wanted to say something more. Instead, she just nodded. “Fine.” She said, “Track Entrapta.” Take Sea Hawk- I’d rather send you with as much backup as possible. 

Hordak turned on the Data Pad and ran the tracking program. It took a moment to work but after a moment it showed her general location superimposed over a localized map. 

“She’s heading to the boundaries of Bright Moon.” Hordak said, “We have to catch up.” 

“Right.” Glimmer said. “Also, here’s your warning.”

“Warning for what?” Hordak demanded. He got his answer an instant later as they teleported again. This time, when they materialized they were in the woods that surrounded Bright Moon. 

Hordak turned to Glimmer, still feeling a little queasy from the teleport, “Go back to the party.” He said, “Whatever lie Double Trouble has, go with it.” 

“When you get back, there’s an entrance by the kitchens.” Glimmer said, “Go there, and someone will come and get me. I’ll bring you back to your rooms after that, ok?” 

Hordak nodded, and a moment later Glimmer disappeared once more, leaving Hordak alone in the woods with Sea Hawk, Mermista, Scorpia, Rogelio, and Imp.

“Spread out.” Hordak ordered. “Scorpia, go with Mermista. Rogelio, with Sea Hawk-“ 

“Uh, why?” Mermista asked. 

“Because they’re trained, and know how to work together in a search and rescue mission whereas you don’t. This way, I have less to explain, and we waste less time,” He ran the tracker again, and saw Entrapta’s location deeper in the woods. 

She had stopped. 

Hordak pointed towards where the tracker said Entrapta was, “That way. I got central line. Rogelio, take left. Scorpia-“ 

“Understood. I got right.” She pulled Mermista along as she headed into the undergrowth. Rogelio did the same with Sea Hawk. When they were in place, Hordak gestured for them to move forward, and they started their search. 

This was really simple, as far as searching went. They were treating this as a search in a hostile environment, so they were being cautious, and staying out of sight. They were far apart enough so that if one group got attacked, the others weren’t in immediate danger. However, they were still close enough that Hordak could use the basic silent gestures to command them to keep moving as they crept through the undergrowth, or to stop when he heard something that worried him, or when he wanted to take a good look around. Training took over, and while a part of his mind was thrashing against itself, panicking over the idea of losing Entrapta, the other part had taken full control. 

Tactics. Search and Rescue. This was a military exercise and he had no time to panic; He could panic when Entrapta was safe. For now, he had a job to do.


	104. Call

The leaves around him were damp, and droplets of moisture caught Hordak's clothes as he crept through the trees with Imp jumping from branch to branch overhead. 

Had it rained, or was this just dampness from some evening mist? If they had to resort to tracking without the Data Pad would it cause them issues?

Was Entrapta alright? Was she cold? Her clothes were probably soaked by now; she wasn’t particularly careful when she was walking around. She’d be uncomfortable. She hated being uncomfortable. When they got back he’d draw her a nice hot bath (hot by her standards anyway) and scrub her back and wash her hair. He’d spend hours brushing out her hair afterwards, letting it air dry as she fell asleep. 

He held up a fist to signal everyone to stop. He heard Imp land somewhere overhead. He glanced to one side and saw Scorpia signal back - confirmed. Stopped. 

To the other side, Rogelio did the same. 

Hordal strained his eyes, looking for something in the woods. There were a million ways that a waypoint could be set up, and they just had to find something strange, or find some sign of ENtrapta. He pricked his ears and listened in the silence; he’d probably hear ENtrapta before he saw her. His night vision was great, but he couldn’t see through the foliage and the trees. He could potentially use his sonar, the woods were too unfamiliar and there were too many strange things for the high pitched clicks and screeches to bounce against. 

Nothing. Scorpia signaled back nothing. Rogelio signaled back nothing. Hordak signaled for them to move forward. 

=======

Hordak’s heart jumped when Scorpia signaled that she saw something almost an hour later. He signaled to Rogelio, then they made their way silently to Socrpia’s location. There were no words spoken, she just made a gesture with her claws and pointed with her tail into the woods. 

“So what are we looking at“ Sea Hawk didn’t even have the words out of her mouth before Rogelio covered her mouth with his hand as Hordak and Scorpia held fingers to their mouths to indicate that he needed to be quiet. 

“Ugh.. you’re such a dork, Sea Haw-“ Before Mermista could finish, Scorpia had a claw over her mouth. Hordak gave her a hard look and gave a silent sigh as she turned to look towards where Scorpia had pointed. 

Mermista and Sea Hawk were made for each other. 

He stared deeply into the woods, and saw what Scorpia had seen - a flash of metal reflecting back the moonlight from overhead. His keen eyes were able to follow the edges through the gaps in the trees, and he could make out what was clearly the waypoint. A medium Waypoint tower, solid reflective metal that would normally be difficult to see in the woods; it was pure dumb luck that they had found it as they had. 

Hordak nodded, gestured with his hand to either side of him, then pointed to the tower. The order was simple. Split up, flank the target, approach. 

Maybe he’d send down to the kitchens for some tiny cookies and warm drinks when he got Entrapta back as well. 

=====

The clearing in the woods had recently been created by the set up of the waypoint. There were no other clones or active guards around, so that was good. The bad news though is that there were combat bots. There were three of them standing by the entrance to the waypoint in standby mode. They were basically balls, but with no legs like his Etherian bots had. They were equipped with circular blades that could slip out from the cracks in the metal, lasers that could cut through flesh like nothing, and a linked audio visual system that allowed for more effective, accurate targeting. 

Hordak’s eyes searched the ground, looking for a scrap of fabric, a lock of hair, or a hint of blood. Anything that might tell him that Entrapta had been here, and if she was hurt. 

Nothing. 

He checked his datapad again, and double checked where the signal for her was coming from. It was definitely in the waypoint. This mind raced over the possibilities before him. 

  1. She had managed to sneak past bots without getting excited and creating enough noise to activate them
  2. She had lost her datapad and it was just the datapad that was in there
  3. She was captured. 

Hordak didn’t like two of those options, and the first one was very unlikely. If just her datapad was in there, then not only was Entrapta missing, but he now had no way to find her. 

If she was captured, that opened up a whole new problem. These sentries were only defensive. The drones only had capabilities to observe and record. Who, or what had captured Entrapta?

The idea that she might be hurt ran through his mind, and only just managed to suppress a growl. He took a long, deep breath, and started to gesture to Scorpia and Rogelio. 

Stealthy approach. Danger. 

They crept through the foliage slowly, Hordak’s ears flicking with every crack and creak of the wood where the others were walking. They were lucky that the sentries weren’t other clones - they’d have been caught by now. The bots could have their audio turned up, but then they’d activate for every rustle of leaves, every animal that ran by, and every creak of the trees. There was a balance that they had to match, and thankfully they seemed to be falling under the threshold of noise needed to activate them. 

Then there was a yelp; High pitched to the point that it hurt Hordak’s ears just a little. He turned and glared at Mermista, who was likewise glaring at Sea Hawk, who was flushed red and had his hands over his mouth. 

In the darkness, Hordak could see him frantically flick a spider off his face. With a shudder, any rage that built up in Hordak dissolved. 

The bots before them whirred to life. 

“So much for stealth.” Mermista grumbled as she reached her hands down to the ground. “There’s some underground springs around here!” She called out. 

Hordak jumped ahead, flanked by Scorpia and Rogelio before the awful bots. Would they bring out the blades and try to chop them down first, or would they go for critical strikes with the lasers. 

Who would they target first??

To Hordak’s surprise, the bots didn’t target any of them. There was a whirring and a chirping as they woke up from their rest mode, scanned the area, and then shifted out of the way to allow Hordak and the others to enter the waypoint. 

“... sir?” Scorpia said with her claws out, “What are they doing?” 

“Unsure.” Hordak said as he took a step back, “Stay on your guard.” 

When they didn’t approach, one of the bots beeped and rolled around them, approaching from behind Hordak. He reached out and swiped with a claw, but the bot moved out of the way, falling just short of getting sliced. 

To Hordak’s surprise, it beeped almost sadly. 

“Hey, guys?” Sea Hawk called out. Hordak turned to see one of the other bots had gotten behind Sea Hawk, and was now pushing us towards the door. 

“They want us to go inside?” Scorpia asked, still standing defensively in front of one of the other bots. 

“Apparently.” Hordak muttered. Something was wrong. Prime’s bots didn’t beep  _ sadly _ . His own bots might have some personality, and Entrapta’s were full of them, but-” 

He stopped and gave a deep, heavy sigh. “Alright.” He said to the bot, “I’ll go in.” 

“Is that a good idea sir!? Scorpia said, “I mean. If they want us to go in, isn’t it a trap?   


“It might have been.” Hordak said, “Once, but it’s not now.” he shook his head, massaging his temples as he headed to the open door, “I am a fool.”

“Like, I know?” Mermista said, “But why specifically?”

“I discounted Entrapta.”

“... what?” Mermista asked. Hordak frowned and turned to Scorpia. 

“Scorpia.” he said, “Of the following options, what’s most likely. 1) Entrapta snuck past bots without making enough noise to wake them; 2) Entrapta lost her datapad; 3) Entrapta was captured by these bots which aren’t designed with the capability to capture anything; or 4)-

“Oh four.” Scorpia said as she dropped her claws, “Entrapta followed the bots here, and made friends with them.” 

Hordak nodded, “I was going to say that she reprogrammed them, but I suppose that’s more or less the same.” He looked up at the waypoint, “If I had to guess, this isn’t Prime’s waypoint anymore, it’s Entrapta’s.”

The bot behind him nudged at the back of Hordak’s legs, beeping impatiently. Hordak sighed, “Yes yes, I’m going.” he muttered as he headed to the entrance, followed by the others. Mermista still seemed to be on edge, but at least she was following.”

“Hey.” Mermista finally asked, “I have a really dumb question.” 

“Go ahead.” 

“... did anyone bother to call Entrapta? On her datapad?”

Hordak froze, causing the bot behind him to bump up against his legs. 

“You didn’t, did you.” Mermista said with a smirk.

“To be fair-” 

“You just realized she was missing and started freaking out.” 

“You didn’t think of calling her either!” Hordak snapped as he turned off the tracking. 

“True.” Mermista said with her arms crossed, “But I’m not supposed to be the smart one.” 

“No, you’re apparently the one that gets drunk in the middle of a delicate undercover mission!” He brought up Entrapta’s information, and sent out a call. 

“Hey! This night hasn’t gone great, you know that.” She snapped, “Though, I guess maybe you didn’t notice, you spent half the night dancing, and -” 

To his side, Scorpia gave a low squee, “Lord Hordak was dancing?” she said. Rogelio looked at him with an expression of disbelief. 

“Yes. I was.” Hordak hissed as his cheeks burned, “It’s a basic skill, and not difficult to learn!” 

“Oh he was dancing with ALL the princesses.” Mermista said with a grin, “Even Frosta. He let her stand on his feet and everything.” 

“I would have loved to have SEEN that!” Scorpia squealed. 

“You would have just seen Sea Hawk dancing.” Hordak grumbled as he waited for Entrapta to answer. 

“Did I dance with Mermista?” Sea Hawk asked. 

“No, Hordak did.” Mermista growled. 

“Not like you could tell the difference.” Hordak said. He frowned, put the datapad away, and headed to the entrance. 

“Wait.” Scorpia said as she saw Hordak move to the entrance, “Is she in there? Is she ok?” 

“No idea.” Hordak growled, “She didn’t answer.” 


	105. For me, Please?

The Sentry bots followed them inside the waypoint, beeping anxiously as they followed Hordak and the others. Like any other waypoint that Hordak had ever seen in action, this one was just halls and halls of tiny little pods, most of which were empty. The pods were designed to hold and charge the drones on top of analyzing any physical material they might have brought back - Dirt or paint that got on the metal, or more often and more importantly, blood. 

For a moment, Hordak was worried about the drones that had ended up in his room, but then remembered that he had used his device. All the drones should have been disabled and broken. 

Maybe it was best to let the waypoint suffer a little ‘accident’ once Entrapta was out. 

“So.. like, this is super boring.” Mermista said, “I was expecting something a little grander, you know?”

“It’s not a castle.” Hordak hissed, “It’s basically a big charging station. It’s not supposed to be grand, it’s supposed to be effective.” 

“Yup. That's the Horde.” Scorpia said as she looked around, “Though, sir?” She glanced at Hordak, “if we go back to the Horde after this, I want to make a request for alternative foods.” 

“Noted.” Hordak said, “But when we go back-” he worked very hard not to say if, “It won’t be a military community, it’ll be…” He frowned, “Something different. I don’t know what yet.” 

They came to a four way intersection among the rows and rows of tiny pods. Hordak listened carefully, his ears twitching. Nothing. He tensed his voice and used echolocation to see if he could find anything. 

Empty hallways all around. Entrapta had to be behind a door somewhere. 

“Omigosh.” Scorpia said softly, “Your ears just did this weird twitchy thing-” 

“Echolocation.” Hordak muttered, “I was hoping to figure out where she was, but she has to be on another level of the waypoint, or behind a door, or-” 

“Wait, there’s multiple levels?” Mermista asked. 

“I saw at least three on the surface.” Hordak said, “There’s likely three underground as well.” He frowned as he looked at the dust on a nearby surface, “this wasn’t put together today. This was set up weeks ago; likely after Horde Prime landed.” 

“Why though?” Mermista asked. 

“Reconnaissance.” Scoirpia said, “Better to have more information than you need.” 

Hordak couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pride at Scorpia’s words. Yes, she was nicer than she had to be, allowed people to walk all over her sometimes, and didn’t necessarily maintain decorum well, but she was efficient, clever, remembered what she was taught, and was a very fast learner. 

The other things weren’t necessarily important. Well, she did need to learn to stand up for herself. 

A task for another day. 

“Great. So which way do we go?” Mermista asked. 

Hordak was about to say that he didn’t know and that they’d have to explore the entire waypoint when one of the sentries beeped and scooted out around them. It spun in a circle before heading down one of the hallways. It stopped a few feet down, and then turned back to see if they were following. 

“That way, I suppose.” Hordak muttered, “Be on your guard in case it’s a trap.” 

Following the beeping bot, they crept down the hallway. 

======

They followed the bot up three levels, taking the maintenance elevators one at a time to make their way to the top. The bot then led them to a large door, which slid open as it approached. 

“Oh! Hi Hordak! A little help?”

Hordak almost laughed, less out of actual amusement and more from the feeling of all that worry suddenly slipping away from him. 

Entrapta was alone in the waypoint's main control center. If Hordak had thought about it for a moment, he was certain that he would have suggested that they find the control center, but that wasn’t important now. Her datapad lay on the floor, a crack in it’s screen from it’s fall. 

High above them, with her hair caught in some of the componentry of the waypoint’s mechanisms, hung Entrapta. 

“We have to get her out of there!” Scorpia cried, “What if this crushes her? Or-”

“It won't,”Hordak said. He pointed up at the gears, “The safety was already activated. Nobody is supposed to be up there, and the gears lock into place and stop if they experience a certain amount of resistance.” He let his eyes flick over Entrapta; She seemed relatively fine. There were new oil smudges on her clothes, and one on her face. Half her hair was caught in the machinery, and the other half was currently working to keep her held up so her caught hair didn’t hurt her. 

Emotionally, she seemed thrilled. She was busy picking apart parts of the machinery closer to 

where she was. 

“Entrapta; Are you unharmed?” Hordak called up to her. 

“Of course! Well. I mean, My hair is stuck, and I dropped my data pad. Poor thing is gonna need a new screen!” 

“We can take care of that when we get back.” He said, “But I need you to stop tinkering with the machinery so I can get you free!” 

Entrapta have a sad little “Awww.” as she drew her hands away from the bits she had been examining. Despite still feeling like his heart was about to burst from his chest, and despite being maybe just a little irate that Entrapta had run off without telling anyone, Hordak went to the nearby control panel and slowly started turning knobs and levels to release his mate. 

Yes, a little angry. He was angry with everyone in this: Double Trouble for not keeping her entertained, Mermista for her snide comment about a leash, Entrapta for running off in the first place, and himself for not being at her side, and for being so distracted that he allowed himself to lose track of her in the first place.

The gears turned, hydraulics moved, and the piece of machinery that Entrapta’s hair had been stuck in shifted, allowing Entrapta to get free. The moment she was free, she dropped down to the ground, went up to Hordak, and wrapped her arms around him, holding herself up with her hair so that she was high up enough to get her arms comfortably around his neck. 

“I’m sorry you had to come and help me,” She said quickly, “I figured if there was a problem, then you could just call me, and nobody was really paying me any attention-” Hordak felt a pang of guilt hit his stomach, “And Prime was gone, and I saw these things poking around, so I figured I should come and check it out and see what it’s all about so I know how to deal with it if necessary!”

“It’s fine, Entrapta.” Hordak said with a little smile. He was just glad she was safe, and when she held him it was like all the anger he had drained out of him. 

“But then it just started moving suddenly, and my hair got caught, and that -hurt- and I dropped my datapad. I couldn’t reach it when you called.” she looked over at the two sentry bots that were sitting nearby, “But I sent Anna and Hanna out to get help! I figured if you called, and you were looking for me you’d be here soon-”

  
“Anna and Hanna.” Hordak said, “I’m guessing those are the sentry bots?”

“Oh! I didn’t even properly introduce you!” She said, Then looked around and noticed the others for the first time, “Oh! I can introduce all of you!” She turned to the bots, “Anna, Hanna, This is my mate that I told you about, Hordak-” She pointed at Hordak, who felt his ears flush, “My very good friend Scorpia-” Scorpia gave a little squeal, “Rogelio, he helped me a LOT when I needed to move a bunch of stuff. You know, before I met Hordak, and uh.. Mermista and Sea Hawk. That’s everybody.” She beamed at the others, “Everybody, this is Anna and Hanna. They had these AI obedience chips on them, so they couldn’t act outside of the programming on that, BUT, I broke it, and they’re really nice now!” 

“...Ai what chips?” Mermista asked. 

“Consider it a leash for AI’s.” Hordak said, “It doesn’t let them act outside of their objectives.”

Entrapta’s hair fizzed up, “Yeah! It’s awful!” She said, “Imagine having his big, beautiful AI mind, and you have all these thoughts and feelings, but you can only do a few things! You can only act a certain way! It’s awful.” She patted the bots on the head with her hair, “So I made them better.” She turned to look at Hordak, “We’re taking them back.” 

Hordak chuckled, “Alright, Entrapta.” He said, “ but we have to check them for location trackers and recording devices first-” 

“Already done, and removed!” she said as she held up a pile of old wires and chips, “That was the first thing I did!”

“Alright then.” Hordak said, “We should head back-” 

“Not yet!” Entrapta pleaded, “There so much data here, and -” 

“Entrapta!” Mermista snapped, “We need to get back to Bright Moon, and -” 

“Excuse you.” Hordak hissed. One withering glare silenced her. He turned back to Entrapta.

In truth, he agreed with Mermista in theory: they should get back to BrightMoon, or at least out of the waypoint. Still, he was not going to stand by and let Mermista talk to Entrapta with anything more than absolute respect. 

“Entrapta? We need to stay?” 

“I’d like to!” She said, “For just a little while longer! The way these drones transfer information could be very useful for what I have planned for the defensive tech I'm working on. They also have some repair tech that I could combine with the tech I made when I built EKS, so It’ll be faster and more effective.” 

Hordak nodded. “Alright.” he said as he looked around, “I should have materials here to fix your datapad while we wait.” 

Mermista cleared her throat, “Hey, so, that’s great and all, but what about the drones?” She looked around, “Won’t they come back and see us?”

“They might.” Entrapta said with a smile, “But I cut the feed from her to Prime. It’s all reliant on the backup now. Unless Prime comes back for that, he’ll never know we were here.” 

Hordak frowned- he didn’t like the idea of leaving data behind. “We should deal with that.” He said, “Break the harddrive before he finds it.” he frowned as he looked around, “Maybe when you’re done, I can disable some safety protocols, make it look like it suffered a major malfunction.” 

“You mean.. You’re going to break it?” Entrapta asked, her hair falling limp. 

“That’s the intent.” Hordak said as he looked away quickly, “Horde Prime can’t get any footage of us sneaking around, or any evidence that we’ve deceived him.”

“But all the little tiny little bots!” Entrapta said, a distinct hint of sorrow in her voice, “They’ll just die?”

Hordak made his mistake then; he looked at Entrapta. She had big, sad eyes, and her hair was limp around her. He cursed under his breath and looked away again. 

“...If you can think of a way to keep the data out of Prime’s hands, even if he were to come to this location himself to retrieve the harddrive, then maybe it’ll be alright to leave it. For now.” 

“I have a better idea!” Entrapta said, her hair puffing up around her again, “Give me a half hour and I’ll have everything done!” she made her way to the control panel. 

“20 minutes.” Hordak said with a grin, “And I’ll help. It’ll be faster that way.” 

“Awww.” Scorpia whispered behind them, “Isn’t that the sweetest!” 

“Yeah. sweet.” Mermista grumbled.

  
  



	106. Retreat

A single drone managed to hover through the doors at the bottom of the waypoint. It had been recording the nearby location, as per its directive, when other drones nearby started to record some kind of distress. The drone followed the signal, preparing to record and send the information to the database. 

Then there was a pulse; A high pitched screech that threw off half its memory capabilities and compromised it’s mobility. It fell to the ground, taking additional damage from the strike, and causing massive glitching. 

Then it rebooted. 

All the other drones in the area had been damaged beyond repair. The damage done to itself was too much to allow it to keep doing it’s research, so it returned to it’s waypoint. 

Now, here it was. It went to it’s pod and plugged in. The waypoints automatic repair functionality started working. 

Report: Physical damage maintained. Cause: unknown sonic interference. 

The waypoint drew what information it could, and ran it’s programs. 

Determination: Attack.

Waypoint under attack. Activate defensive capabilities. 

The waypoint sent a ping out to the sentry bots, but nothing came back. Somehow, they were offline. 

If sentrybot == offline then 

Activate backup_sentrybot

If sentrybot and backup_sentrybot = offline then

Mode = retreat

If mode == retreat then send order return_to_base

End

End

======

“SO!” Entrapta said as she sorted through a handful of wires while reading information off her datapad, “If we can use the hivemind protocol that’s running here, and we link that up with the barrier bots I’ve been developing-“ 

“That would fix the issue we’ve been having in managing so many pieces.” Hordak said as his eyes ran over the data, “But we’d need to override the retreat functionality here. That’s a core part of the programming… maybe if we-“ 

“I swear.” Mermista muttered from where she sat watching Hordak and Entrapta examine the codes, the programming, and all the tech in the waypoint, “Those two are made for each other.” 

“Oh, aren’t they though!” Scorpia squealed, her eyes sparkling as she watched them, “Oh my gosh, do you think they were this cute in the fright zone? OH! Actually!” She turned to Mermista, “Catra said once that she went to report to Hordak, and he was talking to Entrapta, and she was just sitting on the arm of his throne! She told a bunch of people, and I think that’s really when the rumors started.” 

“Uuugh... you’re all so weird.” Mermista grumbled. 

“I’m honestly just glad that Entrapta has someone she can really talk to.” Scorpia said, “She’s really nice, and like… nobody gets her. I mean, I try! I really do. But...” She waved a claw at all the tech around them, “I just don’t get this stuff. I tried to learn, but-” She leaned back and laughed, “I guess it’s just not my thing.” 

Mermista slumped down and leaned against a wall, “How long have we been here.” She grumbled. 

“14 minutes and 33 seconds since you agreed to give me 20 minutes.” Entrapta called out, “We’re just about done - I’m just making a backup of the primary functionality of the undamaged bots still linked to the waypoint. We’ll take them back to Bright Moon with us! We’re almost done!” 

“We’ll be done faster if Entrapta doesn’t have to explain to you what she’s doing every few minutes.” Hordak snapped. 

Mermista sighed, and glanced over at Sea Hawk, “You’ve been quiet.” She said, “What, you still wonky from having an alien in your body?”

Sea Hawk glanced over at her and shook his head, “no no. I’m fi- I am unbothered.” 

Hordak glanced back at Sea Hawk, his ears flicking slightly as he overheard parts of the conversation. Entrapta was wrapping up the work, shutting down some primary programs and preparing their little bit of sabotage, so she wasn’t listening, and didn’t notice how strangely Sea Hawk was acting and speaking. 

“Geeze. Now I know that something’s buggin’ you.” 

It clicked suddenly. Sea Hawk wasn’t bothered. Well, he was, but he wasn’t being quiet because he was upset, he was being quiet because Hordak himself was normally quieter and when “Sea Hawk” was acting like Hordak, Mermista thought he was interesting- at least when she was drunk. Hordak didn't think he should get involved, but he was still rather irritated with Mermista for getting drunk in the first place, and for being so rude to Entrapta.

He figured she could stand a little discomfort. 

“Shadow Weaver mentioned some mental overlap.” Hordak said, “I imagine that when we were getting sorted out, once Sea Hawk’s mind woke up, but before my body woke up, he got the memories from the evening.” He glanced over at Sea Hawk, trying not to think about what else he might have seen or what other memories he might have had thrown at him, “Am I correct?”

To Hordak’s surprise, Mermista’s response was more dramatic than Sea Hawks’. Sea Hawk just coughed and looked away, saying something about being unable to remember. Mermista blushed bright red and began to sputter. 

“Hey now!” She finally managed to say coherently, “I was drunk.” 

“I’m well aware.” Hordak hissed. 

“And why should Sea Hawk be upset over what I said when I was drunk anyway. It’s not like we’re dating.” 

Before Hordak could respond, there was a shifting in the structure of the waypoint. Entrapta yelped as something nearly fell, then gave a low, “Uh-oh” as she read the reports coming up on her screen. 

“Hey, Hordak?” She asked, “Is this waypoint mobile?”   
  


“Yes.” Hordak said as he rushed to a nearby control panel, “It can fly as one piece, or dismantle for faster, undercover flight.” 

“Right...And in the case of a retreat order, what would it do?”   
  


Hordak pulled open the control panel, looked through the machinery, and knowing he had very limited time to do anything he suddenly ripped a piece out of the machinery. 

“Now?” He asked as he held up the component in his hands, “It can’t dismantle anymore, so it’s going to start-” 

The waypoint shifted again under their feet, and they felt the whole thing lift into the air as the machinery around them started to hum with activity.

  
“Now it’s going to return to its home base in one piece?” Entrapta ventured.

“Correct.” Hordak said, “Entrapta, how much longer do you need on that harddrive?” 

“If I could get five more minutes, I could get it done.”   


Hordak nodded, pulled up his data pad, and pulled up the map of the area. He zoomed out a bit, and after doing some quick calculations, he nodded. 

“I can give you ten minutes.” He said. He looked over at Mermista, “Hypothetically, if you had to jump from 100 feet in the air into a lake below, you’d survive that, correct?”

Mermista gave a snort, “Like, yeah? I do that for fun.” 

“And following that, could you ensure the survival of everyone else?” 

“Yeah, easy.” 

“Excellent.” Hordak said. He looked around, and found a crate with neatly stacked spare parts. He lifted the crate and dumped it out before bringing it to Entrapta. 

“Put anything you don’t want to get wet in here.” He said. He held up the Data Pad, “In about ten minutes, we’re going to pass over a lake that’s west of Bright Moon.”

“Wait, we’re going to jump!” Scorpia exclaimed, “Sir, I can swim but I’m not a strong swimmer, not with these claws and this armor!” 

“That’s fine. Mermista can deal with us when we get into the water.” He turned back to Entrapta, “Once you have control of the bots, hook a dozen of them up to this crate, and send them to Bright Moon.”

“Got it!” 

“I’m going to finish up the rest of my surprise for Horde Prime.” He pressed a few buttons to set a notification for when they were about to fly over the lake. They should be finished by then, and they’d have enough time to get down to the main emergency exit before they crossed over the lake. 

======

The crate, carried by 15 sentry drones strained to take off, then finally managed to hover before humming off to the nearest drone exit on their floor. It had taken longer to get the crate set up with enough drones to carry all the equipment that Entrapta had saved, but at least it was safe now. 

At this moment as well, Hordak knew that the other functional drones were now cut off from Horde Prime’s systems, and were also leaving the ship and making their way back to Bright Moon. They were Entrapta’s drones now, and Hordak had plans for them. 

Once the drone carrying the crate was off, Hordak ran back to the main control panel, finished hooking up a few wires, rewiring some electricity, and setting a few last minute timers. 

“Alright.” Hordak said as the timer blinked to life, “We have five minutes before the waypoint blows. Let’s go!” 

Wait, only five minutes!” Mermista said as she chased after them, “Why didn’t you give us longer??”

“If it blows over the water, it’ll be harder for Horde Prime to find evidence of tampering.” Scorpia said before she looked at Hordak, “Right sir?” 

“Correct.” Hordak said, “ and any more than five minutes and the water would be too shallow to hide anything.” 

They got to the first lift, and Hordak pulled the door open, reached in, and ripped a hole out of the ceiling. 

“Hey, we need that!” Mermista protested.

“No we don't.” Hordak said. He turned to one of the sentry bots that had followed them, “Take out the hydraulics.” He said, “Please.” 

The bot beeped happily, and shot at the mechanism over the elevator. The elevator screeched, and fell down, crashing through the bottom. “It’ll be faster this way.” Hordak said. He grabbed the now dangling wire and slid down the shaft to the bottom. Entrapta followed after, easily making her way down on her hair with the two bots. The others managed to do the same as Hordak and got down the shaft without trouble. 

“I figured you two would need help.” Hordak said to Mermista and Sea Hawk as they rushed to the next elevator. 

“Both of us have spent more than enough time on ships, so like, we know our way around some rope.” 

“Exactly! Some of my best adventures- I mean..” Sea Hawk cleared his throat as he kept running, “I can manage myself just fine.” 

Hordak gave a deep sigh as he ran on. He was pretty sure he’d rather sea shanties than Sea Hawks poor imitation of him .

They got to the next elevator shaft, and Hordak did the same thing. He let everyone else go first as he quickly checked his data pad. 

Two minutes gone already. A moment of panic surged through him as he put the pad away, grabbed the wires and made his way to the next floor down. Maybe he hadn’t given them enough time. Maybe he had allowed Entrapta too much time to tinker with the bots. Though, if the equipment hadn’t been so heavy, they wouldn’t have spent as much time trying to get the bots to be able to manage the crate.    
  


He thought, not for the first time, that Entrapta should have stayed with the party. Even if she was bored, she shouldn’t have run off. He didn’t want to think like that because of what Mermista had said about the leash, but a part of him was still angry. 

He had been so worried! And if he had run off, wouldn’t Entrapta be worried about him?

_ I’m actually angry with Entrapta.  _

He had lost the anger when she had embraced him earlier, and he had forgotten it while they were working on the tech, but now that he could think about it again, the anger was seeping back. Even when he thought she had left him, he wasn’t angry at her. Why was he angry now? He loved her. He knew that she was fascinated by technology- Especially space technology. Why was he angry with her now?

They approached another elevator, and as Entrapta went down the shaft he suddenly realized why; She put herself in danger. She put herself in danger without thinking. That was why he was angry. 

He’d have to deal with that later. He didn’t know how he was supposed to deal with it- he never got angry at Entrapta, and he felt like his normal methods of dealing with anger wouldn’t be suitable. He’d have to figure out something when they got back to Bright Moon. 

For now, three minutes were gone and they had another floor to get down. 


	107. Anger

“Less than a minute left until this place starts to fall apart!” Hordak shouted as they slid down the last elevator shaft, “Get to the entrance and jump right away.” He double checked his data pad and confirmed that they were still over the lake. 

Good. 

“Mermista has to go first. I go last.” 

“Why do you have to go last-“ 

“I’ll explain later. No time. Go.” 

Entrapta glanced back at Hordak, her expression falling for just a moment before she continued running. He wondered if there had been a snap to his voice that he hadn’t intended. Yes, he was angry, but there was no point in upsetting Entrapta right now. 

They got to the door without further conversation. Mermista stopped at the exit, looked down, then jumped without any more questions. Hordak had been certain that she would argue or protest or have some kind of issue with his plan, but at least she was starting to listen to him. Scorpia and Rogelio were next, jumping as instructed without any argument. 

Well, he hadn’t been worried about them - they were his soldiers, and knew how to follow orders. 

“Here.” Hordak said before Entrapta jumped with the two bots. He gently lifted Imp off his shoulder and gave him to Entrapta, “Take care of Imp for me.” Imp screeched as Hordak passed him off, reaching for Hordak.

“Why. What’s going to happen!” Entrapta said, taking a step towards him. She wrapped her hair around his wrist, “Are you going to be ok.” 

A touch, and his anger started to fade. He gave her a quick nod, “I’m going to be fine.” He assured her, “You can keep Imp safer in the water with your hair than I can, that’s all.”

Entrapta nodded, lifted herself up to kiss Hordak. He kissed her back quickly – he’d not deny her or himself affection because he was angry – and then jumped. 

Hordak went to the wall and pulled out a panel. He plugged in his data pad, and started tinkering with the readings, prepping false coordinates for when the waypoint started to blow up and catch fire. At the first sign of destruction, the waypoint would send coordinates to the homebase, and Hordak wanted to make it look like it had blown up over a lake several miles away. It wasn’t something he could have done from the top of the waypoint because it sent a tracking ping to Horde Prime’s systems every three minutes. He was fairly certain that Entrapta’s tinkering with the waypoint had stopped that, but he didn’t want to take the chance.

He was just about done when he realized that Sea Hawk hadn’t jumped. He hadn’t noticed, since Sea Hawk was normally so loud, but Sea Hawk was standing behind him. The holster that Hordak had assumed held some kind of firearm apparently held an energy sword which he was now wielding. 

“Go.” Hordak snapped, “This is almost done.” 

“I can stay here with you until you’re done.” Sea Hawk said, trying to mimic Hordak’s tone, “In case of attack.” 

Hordak cursed under his breath as he disconnected the data pad, “Stop it.” He hissed, “I’m not getting attacked here - Entrapta has all the bots under control. Go.” 

“But the chances for adventure are greater up here!” He insisted, slipping back into his old tone for a moment, “And if I -“ 

“If you what?” Hordak snapped, turning on him, “What do you want to accomplish here!” 

“I’m just as good as you are!” 

The snap was sudden. There was a desperation in Sea Hawk’s voice that Hordak hadn’t heard before. It confused him. 

“If all I need to do is prove that I’m good enough…” 

“This is for Mermista!?” Hordak snapped, taking a step forward, “You’re doing this for-“ 

He stopped. An alarm went off distantly, and he realized that he had lost track of time. His sensitive ears picked up explosions, and the waypoint rocked back and forth. 

“What was that!” Sea Hawk shouted as he was nearly thrown against the wall. 

“That was me.” Hordak said deadpan as he grabbed Sea Hawk by the collar of his shirt, “I set the ship on fire.” 

The waypoint shifted again, and started to fall. Hordak figured, as he ran to the exit, that the port-side engines must have just shut down. Still pulling Sea Hawk behind him by the collar, he jumped out of the exit and towards the water below. 

Several things happened at once. 

There was an explosion behind him as he jumped. The noise hit Hordak’s ears, causing him to cry out in pain as the world muted around him. It was much like having Sea Hawk’s ears again, only this time they were ringing.

The force of the explosion drove them away from where they would have landed otherwise, pushing them away from where the other presumably landed. 

He half-heard a loud shout from Sea Hawk. He turned to make sure that the pirate wasn’t injured when a piece of debris came flying at them. Hordak turned, managing to get Sea Hawk out of the way and keep himself from getting hit in the face with fiery wreckage. He did, however, get hit in the center of his back- right between his wings. 

That hurt far more than he expected. Between the force of the explosion, the pain, and the ringing in his ears he found himself dazed for several long seconds. 

Then, finally, he hit the water. Because he was dazed he hit the water back-on, driving the air from his lungs and causing him to cry out in pain. When he tried to breathe he inhaled only water and started to choke. He found himself flailing, so disoriented by the pain and the sudden loss of air that he didn’t know which way was up at first. It wasn’t until he was pulled from the water to the surface that he started to get his bearings. He was able to cough up the water and breathe. His wings got caught behind him and spread over the surface of the water, which would impact his ability to swim, but which would also keep him afloat without having to kick or swim. 

At this moment, it was a reasonable tradeoff. 

“... Hit the water hard there. Are you sure you’re ok?” 

The ringing in Hordak’s ears faded, and he turned to Sea Hawk. 

“What?” He said, coughing up more water as he did. 

“You hit the water really hard. Are you going to be ok?” 

Hordak nodded, “Yes.” He said, though his voice was raspy, “I’ll be fine.” he frowned, “You pulled me from underwater?” 

Sea Hawk nodded, “I’m a really good swimmer!” he said, puffing up his chest. He deflated a little as he said, “And I had to, since it was my fault we were late jumping, and because you kept me from getting hit with that bit of burning metal. Are you burned badly?”

“No. A short brush with fire like that wouldn’t cause too much of a burn for me.” Hordak said. He would have a nice bruise, but he wasn’t worried about that. 

The water began to pull them away, and as Hordak let Mermista magical current drag him towards the others he watched the waypoint speed ahead, falling further and further down towards the water. Fire was railing from two ports behind it like a pair of fiery wings before it finally hit the water and started to sink. 

======

“There they are.” 

The water pulled Hordak and Sea Hawk to the closest edge of the lake where the others were already waiting, wringing out hair and clothes. As soon as Hordak could feel his feet touch the ground he stood up onto his feet, only to be pulled the rest of the way ashore by Entrapta’s hair. 

“Hordak!” She cried out as she pulled him to her and clung to him, “What happened!” 

“Sea Hawk needed a little extra encouragement to jump.” Hordak grumbled.He turned to set a withering glare at Sea Hawk, but to his surprise he saw Mermista already at him, helping him out of the water. 

She looked worried at first, but when she heard what Hordak had said her eyes narrowed. 

“You moron!” She said to Sea Hawk,” Why didn’t you jump! What, were you scared?” 

“He was worried about me.” Hordak cut in, hating the defeated look on Sea Hawk’s face, “He felt I should have some back up in case something happened.” 

“Moron.” Mermista said again, “Hordak can take care of himself. What if you got seriously hurt!” 

“Mermista was really worried!” Scorpia cut in, “When Sea Hawk didn’t jump, and when the waypoint blew up-“

“You were worried about me?” Sea Hawk asked. 

Mermista flushed and glared at him, “Of course I was, moron.” She grumbled, “Why would you think I wouldn’t worry?” 

Entrapta let go of Hordak, and set herself down on the ground once more as she circled him, “What happened here!” She asked as she poked at his back with her hair.

“It’s nothing.” Hordak said, “I was struck with some debris from the explosion.” He flexed his wings, and felt the pain run through his back, “Nothing’s seriously hurt, and I imagine the bruising will be gone by morning.” 

“Well that’s good!” Entrapta said, “Really, you have to be more careful.”

Hordak froze, and even despite Entrapta’s hair on his wrists, even despite being able to smell her and hear her, he felt himself go from angry to pissed. He turned quickly, feeling his head almost shaking with suppressed rage. 

“Excuse you.” He hissed, “ _ I _ have to be more careful!?” 

“Well… yes?” Entrapta said, her hair quirking up in confusion, “I mean, you should have-“ 

“I’m  _ TRYING  _ to be careful!” Hordak shouted, “I get in dangerous situations right now because as a whole, Etheria is  _ IN  _ an dangerous situation!” He clenched his fists, “But I’m at least trying. You know where I am. I don’t do anything too dangerous without you there to help me!  _ YOU  _ just ran away from BrightMoon without telling a  _ SINGLE PERSON _ where you were going so you could follow Prime’s reconnaissance drones!” 

“But..” Her hair quirked up, “I just... I wanted to see them.” She frowned at Hordak, confused, “you’re… mad at me?” 

“Yes!” He snapped, “I am! Do you have any idea how scared I was when nobody knew where you were gone! Do you have any idea what could have happened to you! You’re lucky your Data Pad didn’t break when it dropped. You’re lucky that you were able to reprogram the bots! You could have died,  _ OR WORSE _ !” He could almost feel tears of rage and frustration in his eyes, “Prime already asked you to go with him, and we know Prime has a means of just extracting and using what he wants from a person’s head. What makes you think he wouldn’t do that to you?!” 

Entrapta took a step back from him, slipping her mask down over her face. Hordak felt a little bit of guilt, but he was too angry, too frustrated, too worried to really pay attention to it. Even as imp landed on his shoulder, putting a hand on the side of Hordak’s face to try to calm him, he could still only feel all the anxiety and worry and anger that he had suppressed up until now. 

The silence at the edge of the lack was stark and heavy. Hordak figured that any animals that had been around had been scared off by his shouting. The others were looking at him, not even breathing. He stood up straight, and took a long, deep breath as he looked up at the sky. It was starting to lighten as one of the bigger moons was rising. 

“It’s late.” He snapped, turning away from Entrapta, “Let’s just get back to Bright Moon. You’re all tired.” He walked away, listening to make sure everyone was following him. 

They were. 

He was glad that Entrapta had her mask down. He knew that she was probably crying. He shouldn’t have snapped at her. She shouldn’t have taken off. 

_ She probably hates me now. _

The thought came suddenly, followed immediately by, “ _ That’s fine. I probably deserve that.”  _


	108. Solitude

“Oh! Just a sec sir.” 

There had been relative silence as they walked for over an hour in the woods. Scorpia’s voice was the first sound to break through the awkward silence and through the endless cycle of anger and guilt that ran through Hordak’s head. 

He was angry at Entrapta. Of course he was. If things were reversed, she’d be angry at him! But… being angry at Entrapta made her upset. He shouldn’t have been angry at Entrapta, and now he felt guilty for being angry. But even though he felt guilty, he was still angry!

He was glad to have something pull him out of it. He turned around and saw Entrapta sitting on one of the bots, sliding off the top as she had fallen asleep. Her mask was still down, and he had the terrible feeling that maybe she had silently cried herself to sleep. 

He sighed, and went over to her as Scorpia went to pick her up. “I’ll take her.” He said. 

“Are you sure, sir?” Scorpia asked, “I mean.. You seemed kinda-” 

“Regardless of how I’m feeling at the moment, Entrapta is still my mate.” he snapped, “Of course I’m sure.” 

There was a flash of fear in Scorpia’s eyes, but she said nothing as Hordak scooped Entrapta up in his arms and strode on ahead. He let her mask stay down, not wanting to wake her up or see her tear-stained face. Scorpia hurried up to him, walking alongside and pushing branches out of the way as he walked. 

She was also keeping a very close eye on Entrapta. 

“.... Are you worried I’ll hurt her.” Hordak asked, quietly enough that Scorpia would hear him, but nobody else would. 

“I… I know you’d never want to hurt her.” Scorpia said as she looked away, “... But you have a temper, sir.” 

He felt his ears droop down as he walked on, surprised by how much that hurt. He didn’t expect it to, but it did. Scorpia was always the one who had been supportive of him and Entrapta. She had saved him from being killed by Prime, and had sent him to Beast Island to save Entrapta. 

“I’m so sorry, sir.” She whispered, “I didn’t mean to… I’m just.” 

“Do you think I’d allow myself to hurt her?” He said, “I’d be more likely to rip off my own arms before doing such a thing.” 

Scorpia fell silent and looked away. 

“Have I ever struck a soldier of mine.” Hordak said, “Regardless of how angry I’ve been, have I ever done that.” 

“... No.” Scorpia said, softly, “But you’ve gotten really mad. You’ve broken stuff without intending it. There was this one time, one of the other Force Captains said you got so angry your eyes turned purple and you snapped an end off a table. Later, Kyle had to go in and fix the table because it was in pieces on the floor.” 

Hordak felt his ears and face burn as she said that. He only hoped that in the darkness she couldn’t notice that. “That wasn’t… Nevermind. Regardless-” He said, eager to move away from that subject, “Have I ever struck a soldier, even when I was at my angriest.”

“... no sir.” Scorpia said, “I don’t… I don’t think you would. Just…” She glanced away, “You know. Better safe than sorry; better paranoid than dead.” 

Not his saying, but one that some of the Force Captains passed on in the Fright Zone. 

“Of course.” He muttered. “You can keep an eye on me if you wish, but know that I would rather die than hurt Entrapta.”

“I understand.” Scorpia said. 

She still stayed near him all the way to BrightMoon. 

=====

It was properly morning when they arrived at Bright Moon, though It was still too early for anyone to be up save for the staff. They went in through the kitchen door as instructed, and a very sleepy Glimmer in a purple housecoat was fetched. 

“You got her.” She yawned, “Good… she ok?” 

“Just sleeping.” Hordak said, “I’d like to get her to bed.” 

“Sure.” she said. She yawned, and poofed Hordak and Entrapta to their room first. “I mean, not that it matters now.” She yawned, “Everyone’s gone or gone to sleep.” she gave another yawn, “I’ll update you in a few hours.” 

The poofed off again, and they were alone. Hordak was holding Entrapta who was fast asleep, and Imp who had curled up to sleep on her belly. It was peaceful and quiet, save for the chaos and noise in his head. He very gently brought her to the bed, and set her down. Her clothes were still damp so he carefully and gently changed her into her nightclothes without managing to wake her up, then tucked her into bed with Imp at her side. 

Scorpia had been afraid that he’d hurt her. Had he been that scary? That angry? Did Entrapta worry about the same thing?

He’d never hurt her. He’d rather die. The thought of hurting her made him sick to his stomach. Of course, he had hurt her, no? He’d yelled at her, and she had her mask on the whole night. 

He glanced down at her peaceful face, and her tear stained cheeks. She had been HAPPY until he had lost his temper. She had been happy until he shouted. 

He had just been so worried about her!

He gave a long, deep sigh before turning around and heading for the door. Glimmer said she was sure it didn’t matter that they stayed hidden, since the party was over and everyone was either gone home or sleeping. Even though Hordak had just gotten back to BrightMoon, he felt he needed a walk. He needed some fresh air. 

He wanted to be alone. 

======

Solitude had never been hard for Hordak to find, though As of late, it wasn’t even something he had wanted. He wanted to be alone with Entrapta, yes, but not actually alone like he used to be. 

Now he wanted to be alone. He wanted some time to suppress the anger that was still inside him, glowing like an ember. He wanted to be able to go back to Entrapta and just apologize for snapping and put this all behind him without her being able to pick up the slightest hint of anger 

That would take effort and solitude, so he headed to the gardens. He had never actually explored the gardens before, and it took him awhile to find a place that felt closed off, peaceful, and comfortable. The central garden was too open. The flower garden was too heavy with the scent of blooms, and it left him feeling dizzy. The arboretum, on the other hand, was perfect. The trees were clustered together, their canopy forming a ceiling overhead which, in the dim morning light was almost cave-like to Hordak. 

It was comforting. Still, it was hard for Hordak to keep his mind together, to keep himself together. Entrapta was back in their room, so the smell of her, the touch of her hair wasn’t there to help calm him and keep him grounded. His mind swirled with anger, guilt, and regret as he played over the events of the night in his head. Every little thing bothered him. The uneven ground that he nearly tripped over, the clustered branches he kept having to push out of the way, the way his wings would sometimes catch against a branch. Even though he had found the quietest, most secluded place in the gardens, it felt like nature itself was conspiring to enrage him, to stoke the flames of anger instead of letting him suppress it and smother it. 

The final straw was when a branch that he pushed aside slipped from his hands and smacked him in the face. He stood there, startled and shocked as the light pain spread over his cheek. He reached up, and touched his face. 

He wasn’t bleeding, but it still hurt.

Even out in the gardens, even out in nature, he couldn’t seem to find some peace. Was nature trying to punish him?

Maybe he deserved it. 

But he had been so worried. And if HE had run off like that…

“It’s. not. FAIR!” he finally roared as he launched himself at the offending tree. He dug his claws into the wood, felt the bark crush, felt the wood begin to split. With a mighty roar he ripped the tree in half, the wood splitting down the center and parting the tree in perfect halves that fell to the ground on either side of Hordak. 

There. Destruction. That’s what was expected of him, right? 

It felt so unsatisfying. Before Entrapta, before Bright Moon, Before all this happened, if he was angry at tech or at a failed experiment he might trash the offending piece of tech, but then he’d take a walk and go back at it. When Entrapta was around, she’d calm him. A touch, a comment, some kind words, and they’d get back to work. 

Now? Now what did he do when he was angry at Entrapta? This didn’t help. This didn’t help at all. It just left him feeling frustrated, angry, and alone. 

He sunk to his knees with a wail, putting his palms to his face as he allowed himself to quietly sob into his hands. It had all been too much, this past night. The panic attack. Prime didn’t care about him. Entrapta had gone missing. He had yelled at Entrapta, causing her to withdraw away from him. Even as she slept while he carried her, she didn't wrap her hair around him as normal. He made her cry. Scorpia seemed concerned that he might hurt her. 

And now, here he was. Weeping among trees in the gardens of BrightMoon. 

Pathetic. I should be better than this. I should have all this under control. I should know how to handle this. 

He thought of Double Trouble’s reaction to his panic attack. The taunting. Pointing out just how pathetic he really was. 

Prime doesn’t care. I spent so much time worrying about what Prime wanted, how to prove myself to Prime. Even when I knew he was done with me, I wanted to make him see his mistake. But he just. Doesn’t. Care. Entrapta cares. Cared. But I’m just as bad as Mermista. I treated her like everyone else treats her. I yelled at her for being Entrapta. 

Finally, exhaustion started to numb him. He lowered his arms, and realized that he had his wings wrapped tightly around himself; some form of comfort, he supposed. 

Was this how Chilacians comforted themselves? Was it similar to how other species would hug their arms, or how Entrapta would hide herself in her hair? He slowly rose to his feet, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. 

He felt drained, too tired to feel anything. Numb. That was fine. That was an improvement. He’d talk a walk now. Compose himself. He could hear water running in the distance somewhere. He’d wash off his face so not even Entrapta would know how pathetic he’d been.

Honestly… Running into the trees to scream and sob. Pathetic. 

“...So you’ve had a bad day.” a voice behind him said. 

As Hordak turned quickly and then looked away, he realized that he wasn’t too drained to feel anything after all: as he saw Angella and Micah, who had apparently been taking a walk in the garden, he realized he could still feel abject horror, mortification, and shame.


	109. Experience

Hordak could have sworn that his heart stopped, and what was at most three seconds of silence dragged out into an uncomfortable, frozen eternity. Bad enough that he was being pathetic. Bad enough that he had lost control. But of course someone had been around to witness that. 

And of course it had been Angella and Micah. 

His brain quickly ran though every other person who might have stumbled upon him, and decided that it could only have been worse if Shadow Weaver had been around. 

His first instinct was to run. He almost ran! He wanted to just dissolve into the trees and try to pretend that this never happened, while at the same time trying very hard never to be in the same room as Angella and Micah again. But as he pictured himself running off scared from the former queen after breaking in front of her, he decided that such a course of action was too pathetic for him to allow. 

He took a sharp breath, trying to compose himself further so he could slink off with the tattered remains of his dignity. “Apologies.” He managed to croak, hating how broken his voice sounded, “I did not mean to -“ To what? Throw a tantrum? Rip apart a tree? Sob in front of them? “-Disrupt your walk.” He started walking off, hoping the. Water he heard was nearby so he could clean himself up before leaving the wooded area of the garden. 

“Wait.” Angella who called after him. Her voice wasn’t commanding and empirical as it normally would have been; it was really more a request disguised in the imperative. He heard her walk towards him, and then saw her holding something out in his peripheral vision. He glanced, and saw a handkerchief with the Bright Moon insignia embroidered on a corner. 

Hordak grunted what could have been mistaken for a thanks and took it. At the very least it would help him clean up. 

“She insisted on taking that.” He heard Micah say, “She kept saying ‘he’d’ need it, but didn’t know who ‘he’ was.” 

Hordak turned away slightly, trying to discreetly clean himself up. “You’re still having flashes?” He asked, trying to keep the topic from sliding to himself and his breakdown. 

“Not like it was.” Angella said quietly, “Sometimes I’ll just have a feeling, or get confused, but it’s not like it was. I know the difference between…” She fell silent as she tried to explain it, “Real and imaginary isn’t quite right, is it? I wasn’t hallucinating.” 

“You know which reality you’re actually. Existing in.” Hordak said as he finished wiping his face. He put the handkerchief in one of the pockets of his dress, “I’ll have this returned to you-“ 

“No need.” Angella said quickly. “Did... Did you not find Entrapta?” 

Hordak turned around to face her and Micah now, trying to ignore their concerned expressions. Well, he supposed concern was a proper emotion to feel when an alien warlord ripped apart a tree and then started sobbing in front of you. 

“We found her.” Hordak said, turning once again to leave.

“Oh... I thought…” 

“Is she hurt?” Micah asked, “Did Prime take her away? Glimmer told us she went missing from the party-“ 

The little tiny ember of rage that still sat inside Hordak flared up, burning away at the sorrow and the numbness that had taken him over. “Oh no.” He hissed, “She didn’t go missing.” 

Angella frowned, “No? What happened? She’s not hurt is she?”

Grateful to have the attention off of himself and his ‘tizzy’ as Entrapta would have put it, Hordak started to tell them what had happened. He started out calm, his voice as even as he could make it. 

By the time they got to the part where they found Entrapta with her hair caught up in the machinery of the waypoint, he was pacing and ranting, a tone that continued to the end of his rant.

“-I was calm!” He insisted as he neared the end, “I had everything together! I had everything planned out! I didn’t WANT to say a thing to Entrapta in front of Mermista because she’d been making these awful comments about Entrapta all night!” He gave a growl, his ears pinning back as he did, “I would have been fine! I would have kept it all to myself, but then Entrapta had the NERVE to tell ME that I need to be more careful! ME! Because I got caught in the explosion of the waypoint! Which wouldn’t have happened if Sea HAwk wasn’t being an idiot, Which wouldn’t have happened if Mermista hadn’t gotten drunk and started going on about Sea Hawk, But none of that would have mattered if Entrapta hadn’t DISAPPEARED FROM THE PARTY IN THE FIRST PLACE!” Another growl, an angry turn as he glared daggers at the trees around him, “She didn’t tell anyone where she was going, didn’t think that maybe I’d be worried about her! If I did the same thing Entrapta would have arranged a search party minutes after I had gone missing! And I know for a FACT she’d be angry at me for endangering myself, but THAT’S HAPPENED BEFORE!” 

He stopped, and took several long breaths to keep himself from just roaring with anger, “And it’s my fault too!” He snapped, “I wasn’t paying attention to her, and I know she doesn’t connect with anyone else so of course she was bored. She was bored and lonely, and I was  _ dancing  _ with everyone else! If I had paid more attention to her she wouldn’t have gone off! But THAT ties in with Mermista saying that she needs a leash, because it implies that Entrapta can’t be left to her own devices!” 

And there it was again. The anger was burnt out, leaving him with regret and shame. He felt himself deflate as his ears drooped, “But I yelled at her.” He said, his voice far softer and lower than it had been, “I made her cry. I’m no better than Mermista.” The next part came out before he could even stop it, “Entrapta probably hates me now.” 

The silence in the woods was almost deafening after Hordak’s tirade. He hoped that nobody else had heard him– that no other princesses were wandering about. He was about to turn, to offer his apologies again for disrupting them, for ranting, and then hopefully he could slink off. He hadn’t meant to rant…

It was laughter– a low, disbelieving chuckle– that broke the silence.

The urge to run returned at the sound of Angella’s chuckling, but Hordak was still riled up from the outpouring of rage. Even though he could feel his ears flick down, his face and ears burning, he managed to snap a glare at her. 

“I’m so glad you find this is funny.” He hissed.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Angella said quickly, “I don’t, I promise I don’t. I’m not laughing at you.” 

“It certaintly sounds like it-“ 

“I think she means the… situation is funny?” Micah offered carefully. Hordak gave him a quick glare as well, not forgetting the whole being-bound-and-truth-spelled-in-front-of-everyone incident. 

“If you meant that the possibility of Entrapta being hurt was humerous-“ 

“No no.” Angella said after composing herself, “It’s... Well…” She hesitated for a moment, this amused grin on her face, “You’re like a teenager.” 

Hordak frowned, his ears flicking back in confusion, “What?”

“This… this is something I’d have expected from maybe Glimmer after her first fight with a partner.” 

Hordak turned and started to stalk off into the woods, “I’ve have a hard enough day.” He hissed, “I won’t stand here and be insulted-“ 

A wall of magic formed before him, shimmery in the dull light that flickered through the canopy. Hordak only just managed to stop before walking into it. He turned, setting his glare once again on Micah, “This again.” He snapped, “You intend to torment me again!?”

“No, we don’t want you leaving thinking we’re trying to insult you.” Micah snapped, “Just listen to us for a minute.” 

“I don’t have much choice, do I!” Hordak hissed, gesturing at the wall. 

“Not for the moment, no.” Angella said, “Obviously Entrapta doesn’t hate you.” 

“I shouted at her. I’m no better than Mermista. She should-“ 

“Have you never faught with a partner before?” Angella asked, her brow quirking up in confusion. 

“I have not, no.” 

“... Have you had a partner before?” 

“... I have not, no.” 

Angella gave a deep sigh and turned to Micah, “First love is so dramatic.” She said, “It’s almost embarrassing looking back at it.” 

Hordak glowered at them, his ears flicked down. He stayed silent though, waiting for an explination. 

“You do realize.” Angella said, “That it’s normal to fight with your partner.” 

“That doesn’t seem like a pleasent experience.” Hordak snapped. 

“Well, you don’t fight all tthe time.” Micah cut in, “But you spend enough time around someone, you’re going to fight.” he frowned, ”Haven’t you even seen relationships? From your soldiers in the Horde, or even before-“ 

Flustered, Hordak cut him off with a growl, “I won’t stand here and have you mock my … Inexperience!” Hordak snapped as he gestured to the wall, “Drop this wall.” 

“I’m not trying to mock you!” Angella snapped, “I’m trying to help!” 

“Why!” 

Angella took a deep sigh, and stood upright, her shoulders back. It was the regal posture that Hordak had seen Glimmer take on when she had to do something he didn’t want to do. 

So that was where she learned it from. 

“Because...I feel as though I might have treated you poorly.” She said, her words careful, though confident in her “Queen’s voice.” 

It reminded Hordak of himself when he went into what Entrapta would call his “Lord Hordak mode.” It was a mask. She was nervous?

“And that has what to do with this?” 

“I can’t change what’s happened.” She said, keeping that regal tone, “But I’ve had my daughter raving on about you, how helpful you’ve been, how hard you’ve been working…” She frowned, “And if this is some way I … we can help...” She glanced at Micah, “Then I want to try.” 

Hordak was silent, still not trusting them or the situation. He felt like he was waiting for the punchline, like this was a set up to embarrass him further, or drive him away from Entrapta. 

“And besides.” Micah offered, “You can’t really get help from Entrapta in this. None of the others have been in long-term relationships-“ 

“Except for Netossa and Spinerella.” Angella said, “But that would involve asking them for help instead of help being offered, and telling them everything all over again. Mermista has some experience, but from what you’ve said I doubt you want to talk to her.” 

“- and I don't know about the troops from the Fright zone, but I suppose you could always ask them. See if they’ve been in relationships. See how they learned how to work thought fights and arguments. Of course that brings you back to having to explain everything again, whereas we’ve heard and seen enough,” He waved his hand, and the wall fell, “Go ahead. You have options. You can stay here, and let us try to… make things better.” He glanced at Angella, then back to Hordak, “Or you can go off and see if someone else can help.” 

“Or try to deal with it without help. Or experience.” Angella added.

Hordak turned, ready to leave. Ready to get out of there and pretend that nothing had happened. Unfortunately, a part of his brain, the still logical part, stopped him. 

If this were something else- if he were trying to learn a new programming language for example, he’d want to use all the resources he could to understand it better. Ignoring the resources and simply floundering around and trying to make his way thorugh the issue through trial and error when there was a guide right in front of him? Foolish. 

Especially when trial and error could hurt Entrapta more. He thought of Entrapta, her mask down, and the dried tears on her face. Potentially, getting help could prevent that from happening again. Trying to figure it out through trial and error had one big issue: Error meant making Entrapta sad again. 

Hordak weighed his pride – or what was left of it– with Entrapta’s feelings. He sighed, and sat down on one half of the destroyed tree. 

“Alright.” He said, not making eye contact, “Help then.” 


	110. Fights

Angella and Micah seemed to freeze as Hordak sat down. They stared at him for a long moment, silent. 

“... well?” Hordak finally said once the silence started to feel irritating to him. 

“I just… well I didn’t expect you to actually accept.” Angella said quietly. 

“Well, if you didn’t mean it-” Hordak said as he started to stand up. 

“No no! I did. I mean…” Angella frowned. “I just… I’m surprised you’re willing to talk to us.” 

“That’s a stretch.” Hordak said as he sat back down, “I’m willing to listen to what you have to say. I will consider it. I don’t intend to go into details about anything more” he frowned. He didn’t want to be here. They had just seen him crying, they had just seen him throw a tantrum, then rant about how angry he was at Entrapta. But… they were right. If he went to anyone else for help, he’d have to explain the whole thing over again. He’d have to ASK for help, rather than have help be offered. 

He didn’t have many sources of information for this. 

Slowly, Angella sat down on the other piece of the tree, Micah following suit, “That’s fair.” She said, seeming honestly relieved at his words. Hordak figured that he had ‘opened up’ enough for one day, and that she was happy not to have to deal with that again. 

Still, there was a long, awkward silence as Angella sat down. Clearly she didn’t have a plan for how this was going to go. 

“It’s about communication.” Micah finally said, breaking the silence, “It’s not a long, drawn out thing you need to know. You just need to tell Entrapta how you feel.” 

“I believe I did that.” Hordak snapped, “More than I should have.” 

“Well, maybe.” Angella said, “but you also yelled at her-“ 

“I’m aware.” 

“And you need to tell her without being angry at her.” 

“And what, dare I ask, should I tell her that I haven’t already?” Hordak hissed. He moved to stand up again, “If your only advice is that I should talk to her then I believe that’s what caused the problems in the first place-“ 

‘You were angry at her.” Micah said, “And that’s fine. Couples get angry at one another. They fight. They shout. They yell. That’s not the end of the world. But you need to tell her how you feel without being angry.” 

“And you can in fact tell her that she did something you didn’t like, or that you thought that maybe what she did was a bad thing to do.” She glanced at Micah, “People make bad decisions sometimes. Sometimes… really bad decisions. People can be awful at times. But you can work through that.” She looked away, “At least… I hope you can.” 

“Maybe you both need to apologize.” Micah said with a glance at Angella, “Maybe you said some things that you shouldn’t have, or maybe said them in a way that you didn’t intend. And I’m sure you’ll be fine, you’ll be happy if Entrapta recognizes what she did, and makes some changes, right?” He let a hand brush against Angella’s, “And even if you’re angry, you still love her, right?” 

Hordak suddenly figured that Angella and Micah weren’t necessarily talking about him and Entrapta. It took him a moment to think about what they could possibly have been fighting over after just being reunited, but then realized that of course Micah would be angry with Angella. He had just found out that this whole war started because Angella had been a spoiled brat as a child. True, Hordak might have sent him to Beast Island after being captured… but that never would have happened if there was no war to begin with. 

And while Hordak knew for a fact that his spite fanned the flames of war, Angella’s actions had been the spark. 

“I’m sure Entrapta probably feels terrible.” Angella said, “She probably feels like she deserves your anger. Like she deserves to be punished.” 

“She does not.” Hordak hissed, his ears pinning back at the very idea. 

“Then… then you need to make sure she knows that.” Micah said as he looked away from Angella, “The last thing you want to do is be cold and distant, and make her feel like you’re punishing her. Besides.. that would probably be harder on you.” 

Yes, they were definitely talking about themselves. Great. Hordak remembered when he heard them getting… reacquainted before a meeting, and wondered how that translated into being cold and distant. 

He didn’t actually want to know.

“And… maybe it would help if you actually considered how her actions make you feel.” Micah said, “You can be angry, but why did it make you angry?” Hordak saw him wrap his hand around Angella’s, “If you just take a minute to really think about it, maybe you’ll realize that your anger is a result of something else. A sense of betrayal, perhaps? “

“Which I’m sure Entrapta would never have intended!” Angella cut in. 

“I see.” Hordak said, his voice deadpan. He had the idea that even if he wasn’t here, they could be having this conversation. Honestly, it was probably more helpful for them than it was for him. 

…still, it wasn’t useless information, and the way they were more focused on each other made Hordak feel more at ease; they weren’t entirely focused on him. 

“But you shouldn’t wait for her to say something first.” Micha said, “I mean, out of a sense of pride. Letting your pride get in the way? That’s going to cause more problems than you think. And you’re going to feel like an idiot for it.” 

Hordak slowly stood up, waiting to see if they would notice. They didn’t. They continued on, but slowly the conversation was becoming less and less relevant to Hordak. 

Well… at least they were sorting things out. If a brat like Angella could manage it, then Hordak was certain that he could as well. With the quietest of movements he left the area and headed back to the castle. 

It took Micah and Angella a good three minutes to realize he was gone. 

“I hope they work it out.” Angella said quietly. 

“They’re smart.” Micah said as he leaned into Angella. She draped one of her wings over him, and leaned against him as well, relaxing. 

“... I’m sorry.” Angella finally said, “I should have told you how it all happened in the beginning. I was just…” She looked away, “Ashamed. I was a brat when I was young. I was awful. Glimmer turned out so much better than me, and I’m so proud of her.” 

“You changed.” Micah said, “People can change. I think you did a nice thing today… you know, trying to help him.” 

“It doesn’t make up for everything.” 

“It doesn’t have to. It’s a start. You can do a lot of good.” Micah was silent for a few moments before he said, “I’m sorry I’ve been so cold.”

“You weren’t entirely cold.” Angella pointed out, “There was that one night-“ 

“Emotionally cold.” Micah said with a grin. 

They fell into a comfortable silence as the sounds of birds slowly started to re-emerge after being driven away by Hordak’s tantrum. 

Finally, Angella cleared her voice and said, “...Did you see how his ears wiggled though!?”

======

When Hordak got back to BrightMoon, the first thing he did was go to the kitchens. Anger had suppressed his appetite, but now he found himself very hungry. He didn’t need to sleep because his body had been asleep for most of the day before, but he also hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday’s breakfast. He was given a bowl of berries and a smoothie which he consumed on the spot before going back up to his rooms. 

Entrapta was still asleep. He knew she would be - that was why he hadn’t bothered to bring up anything for her to eat. She needed her sleep and he knew that she’d probably sleep well into the afternoon. 

Maybe. She didn’t look like she was having a good sleep. She was whimpering, and her hair was wrapped around herself. 

Not a nightmare, but bad dreams. Hordak cursed himself. He should have been here.He should have been here to hold her and take care of her and help keep the bad dreams away. He remembered what Micah had said, and wondered if Entrapta thought that she deserved the bad dreams because he yelled at her. 

Never. He might have been angry, but Entrapta didn’t deserve anything bad. She didn’t deserve bad dreams, and she didn’t deserve to be alone. 

She hadn’t deserved him yelling at her.

Hordak climbed into bed behind her and slipped under the covers. He pulled her close to him, wrapping his arms and a wing around her as she slept. Slowy, her breathing calmed. Her tense muscles relaxed and she leaned into him. Her hair started to slowly twine around him as though nothing were wrong. 

She didn’t hate him. She still loved him. At least, she still loved him in her sleep. He nuzzled the back of her head and gently ran his fingers through her hair. He’d hold her until she woke. He’d make sure to keep the bad dreams away. He realized that she had twigs and sticks in her hair from her trip through the forest. She’d need a nice hot bath when she woke up. He’d help her wash her hair too. He’d sit and brush it out slowly and gently, just as she liked. 

But first, when she woke up, they’d talk. He’d make it better. He knew he could do it. He had done it once before! Sure not with Entrapta - He and Entrapta had never had a fight like this before, And of course the last time he had to make things better after a fight, it wasn’t with his mate. 

  
And it didn’t end well for himself. 

=======

TO hated Hexaval, a small, newly acquired planet. There was very little there, very little exposure to the wider universe, and the atmosphere was less than ideal for a clone’s lungs. Normally, this was something that T1 would curse as they’d have to wear their actual armor the whole time they were out on patro, complete with their helmets. They could breathe the air sure- it just wasn’t great if they had to exert themselves. 

The good news though, was that if T1 had to do something that wasn’t necessarily part of their duties -like looking for DH- the citizens of the planet didn’t recognize them without their helmets on. They were just one of the new alien species that was coming to their planet out of curiosity.

That was good today for T1. They had gone to five different eateries, and had spoken to a handful or rather rude planetary law enforcement officers in their search for DH, but it was only after an hour of looking that a fortune teller on the street corner pointed them in the direction of a bar in the underside of the city. Even from the outside it looked like a gritty, dirty place. T1 had no doubt that it was no better on the inside. 

They were right. 

It seemed to be a bar that welcomed all kinds of alien races from the rest of the solar system; an oddity as the planet was still adapting to the relocation of the different species from other planets onto their own. That caused some interspecies tensions. 

It was dirty. Gritty. Dusty. T1 was certain that they could taste oil in the air. They’d need to take a long hot shower after this. And wash their clothes. There was a slightly bird-like person on a makeshift stage, doing Karaoke as they sang along to a song that T1 recognized and liked (normally liked anyway. What they were doing to the song should have been considered a crime on this planet.) They were about to turn and leave, thinking that DH would never stay in a place like this, when they saw them sitting at the bar in their now grimey uniform. 

With a deep sigh, T1 went up to DH and sat next to them. 

<<Hey.>> - Caution- anxiety. T1 was trying to keep their ear movements relatively neutral. DH didn’t respond, though their ears flicked back in irritation and anger, T1 sighed again. 

<<Least you could do is respond to me.>> -regret-saddness- 

DH ears pinned back, <<Of course,  _ 05h41>> - _ anger-hurt- <<What do you require of me.>>

T1 flinched at how their ears pinned back, and at how they called them by their actual call number instead of their nickname. 

<<Look. I didn’t mean to upset you.>> They said quickly. 

<<I’m so sorry I got excited.>> DH said, <<And I’m so sorry my exuberance caused you such dreadful embarrassment. It will never happen again.>>- sarcasm- anger-

<<I didn’t mean it like that!>>Regret-sadness. 

<<‘Stop it DH! Can’t you maintain SOME decorum!” Is what you said. It’s hard for me to interpret that in a different way. But please, if there is a different way I was supposed to take it then enlighten me!>> anger- hurt

<<We were in uniform.>> T1 muttered, their ears flicking down and flushing as they remembered the incident, <<You grabbed my arm and pulled me over to see street performers! You  _ squealed _ .>>

<<I was excited!>> -sadness- <<they were going to sing one of your favourites from that musical you like, I wanted to see you get all excited over it.>> Their ears flicked back once more, <<but now that I know I’m just an embarrassment to you, I’ll refrain from such actions again>>- anger- 

DH cleared their throat and signaled to the bartender, who looked a little like a giant earwig. The giant bugs didn’t bother T1 quite so much as the small ones. “What’s your strongest drink?” DH said in Universal Common. 

<<DH, don’t.>>- concern- Clones didn’t drink much. Ideally, a clone wouldn’t drink at all, but sometimes it was needed for a toast with planetary leaders. 

The bartender didn’t answer, but they put a small shot glass on the counter and filled it with a glowing blue liquid. Even from where they were, T1 could smell the alcohol off of it. 

<<Don’t drink that.>> 

<<I’m off duty. I can do as I please.>>. 

<<DH, please!>> - worry- <<Don’t drink that, it’ll go right to your head.>>

<<Good! I want it to.>>

T1 managed to grab the drink from DH’s hands, but DH was insistent on having it. After a brief struggle during which T1 realized that they wouldn’t be convincing DH not to drink this very strong drink, they made one of their worst choices in their life; They held it out of DH’s reach, and took it as one quick shot. 

It burned. They dropped the glass which fell to the floor and shattered. They grasped their stomach as they slipped off the stool and fell to their knees. They felt it hit their stomach like fire, and they gave a little cry of pain. They felt DH’s arms on them as they were pulled back up. 

<<Why did you do that!?>> -Worry-panic-

<<That was awful!>> -disgust- pain- <<Why would you drink that?!>>

<<I… I was just going to sip it! I was angry! I->>

The bartender started gesturing frantically to T1. It took them a moment to follow their signing: “Did you fly here?” They were asking. T1 nodded. They held one hand out, and signed with the other, “Keys.” 

“I’m... I’m not intoxicated.” T1 insisted. 

“You will be.” They signed back. “After taking that drink in one gulp? You’re gonna feel that.” 

T1 let DH help them back to the stool, and begrudgingly passed their keys over to the bartender. 

<<Why did you do that!>>DH asked

<<I didn’t want you to drink it!>> T1 responded. Already they could feel the drink hitting them. Alcohol would hit them hard and fast. At the very least, they were aware that a hangover wasn't something they had to worry about.

<<Because you worried I’d embarrass you more?>> - anger-

<<NO, you moron.>> T1 snapped, “Because you might get sick from it! I don’t know how much you’ve had to drink already->>

<<I didn’t drink anything.>> -sadness. << I.. I thought about it, but I felt it wouldn’t be a good idea. But then I got angry when you were here, and I thought, “whatever, I might as well-“ >>

The drink hit T1 while DH was rambling. They felt themselves get dizzy, they felt their thoughts slip through their mind like water through their fingers. 

By the time DH noticed that T1 wasn’t listening, the room was already spinning. 

“T1?” 

T1 snapped their head up and shot a dazed look at DH. <<I’m sorry, ok!>>- Anger- frustration <<But we’re not safe here. You know that!>> They looked up to the bartender, “Coffee, please.” 

<<What do you->>

<<you know exactly what I mean!>>- frustration. T1 slammed a fist down on the bar, <<We’re away from close observation. We’re on a planet where we’re not well known yet - where even Lord Prime isn’t well known yet. But, if you think for a moment that we’re not being watched, or that our actions won’t get to Lord Prime-” 

<<Don’t worry.>> -anger-<<If I’m acting like an idiot, I’m sure Lord Prime won’t judge you for that.>>

<<You ARE acting like an idiot! I might not get judged, but you will! And I don’t want you to be dealt with.>>

DH’s ears flicked up, <<You don’t?>>

<<Of course I don’t! I don’t want you sent to work back on the mothership without me. I don’t want you gone! And I’m working so hard to try to keep you safe here!>> T1 leaned forward, holding their head in their hands as the room swirled before them, <<I’m working so hard. I’m keeping us out of the public eye as much as I can. I’m getting as much work done as I can. I’m trying to put up a good image when we ARE in public! While I’m doing all this and worrying myself sick over if you’ll be ok, and you’re dragging me around, squealing with excitement!>>

The coffee was placed in front of T1– hot, black, and bitter. It was perfect. 

DH’s ears flicked out in curiosity, <<You’re worried about me?>>

<<Of course I am.>> T1 snapped as they sipped the coffee; it was poorly made and hard to stomach. <<Since we’ve come here, everything’s been hard, nothing’s going right, I’m worried about everything->> their ears flicked down as the bird-person that was singing along to the music on the stage hit an off note and allowed their voice to crack. 

<<And THAT person->> snapped a very inebriated T1, <<Should be arrested for what they’re doing to that song!>> they got up from the stool and started towards the bird person with their fists clenched. 

<<T1? T1 STOP!>> -panic-. DH jumped up and chased after T1, <<You can’t hurt them, they->>

<< I’m not going to.>> -Irritation-anger, << I’m going to show them how to do it fucking RIGHT.>>

It was more the sudden curse from T1 that stopped DH. By the time they pulled themselves T1 had pulled the microphone from the bird-person and started singing in their place– their triple vocal chords forming a chorus as they went through the song pitch-perfect, filled with feeling and passion. 

DH had never heard T1 sing before, and at that point not even a direct order from Lord Prime could have made them lift a finger to stop the performance. 

  
  



	111. Sorry

Entrapta woke slowly in the late afternoon. Hordak hadn’t moved from his spot where he was holding her, letting her hair twist around him- he was far too comfortable, and didn’t want to disturb Entrapta and hurry along to a potentially unpleasant conversation. Entrapta hummed, and started to move slowly as she shifted closer to him. She opened her eyes slowly and saw Hordak. She smiled for just a moment before her face fell. 

Apparently, it took her a moment to remember the day before. Her hair retracted, and she reached for her mask as she moved away from Hordak. He reached out and gently took her arm, but didn’t try to stop her from putting her mask on. If it made her feel better, he’d let her use it. Not that he could or would try to stop her. 

“I’m sorry.” He said as quickly as he could, not wanting her to take off or run away. He wouldn’t stop her if she did, but he didn’t want her to. “For yelling at you. I shouldn’t have done that.”

She stopped, looking at him through her mask. She still seemed like she might want to take off if he said something too harsh. 

“I was angry.” He said. He had been going over how to deal with this quickly, how to speak to Entrapta when she woke so that she wouldn’t run off. “And I didn’t deal with that well. I shouldn’t have spoken to you like I did.” He felt his ears flush, “I especially shouldn’t have done that around everyone else.” 

Entrapta’s hair slowly started to lift her mask. “So… You’re not angry at me?” 

Hordak felt the anger in his stomach bubble at that, but he pressed it down. “I am.” He admitted, “But I still dealt with it poorly.”

Her mask went down again. She had that look like she wanted to run off once more. His mind raced back to what Micah had said. 

“I still love you!” He said quickly, his tone almost panicked, “More than anything. But… yes, I am angry. Me being angry doesn’t excuse how I acted though. So, I’m sorry.” 

Hordak saw a strand of hair reach up under the mask, likely wiping away tears, “I thought you’d understand.” She said quietly. “You always understand. I hated that party. I hated being with Double Trouble the whole time. I couldn’t pretend they were you. Prime was awful. The only good part was dancing with you, but then everyone else wanted to dance with you too, and I knew that I couldn’t spend all my time with you because I had to pretend that Double Trouble was you, and then you were gone, and half the princesses were gone so I figured everyone was leaving, and then I saw those drones and…” She stopped, and turned away, “I thought you’d understand. You like it when I study things.” 

“I do.” Hordak agreed, “But I don’t like it when you put yourself in danger any more than you like it when I do the exact same thing!” He took a deep breath, he had to keep himself from raising his voice. He was frustrated, but he had to be gentle with Entrapta. 

Entrapta didn’t respond, she just stayed silent. Imp had woken up, but wasn’t saying anything - he was watching Hordak silently with his little tail flicking. 

Hordak took another deep breath. He had had the whole morning to try to figure out what he was feeling, to figure out WHY he was angry. 

“You could have been seriously hurt.” Hordak said, his voice steady and calm, “And I didn’t know where you were. Nobody did. We were all worried.” 

“You were worried about me?” 

“Of course I was!” Hordak felt his wings puff out, “How could you think I wouldn’t be!” 

“... I guess I’m just not used to it.” She said ,”I mean… sure people worry about me when they need me... “ she seemed to shrink up, her hair wrapping around herself, “I mean… I guess you do need me. You’re stuck with me.” She turned away from him, “Do you think you could love me the way your hormones make you, but still hate me in your head?” 

“I don’t think I could ever hate you!” Hordak protested, “Hormones or no!” 

“But you don’t know that! You don’t know what could change!” 

A sudden jolt struck Hordak, followed by a feeling of guilt. 

“...And I don’t know if you’ll fall out of love with me.” He said carefully. “You insist that you won’t… but you don’t know.” 

Entrapta fell silent. Hordak reached up and gently stroked her hair with his fingers. Had she actually been worried about that? Had she been agonizing over him hating her while still being forced to love her by his hormones? He hadn’t even considered that. 

He should have. 

“I was angry. I was angry because I was worried. I thought of every terrible thing that could have happened to you.” he felt his ears flick down, “You didn’t even tell anyone where you were going.” 

“I didn’t think anyone would care.” 

“I would have cared. And I would have figured out a way to go with you.”

“Really? But you were having fun with the others…” She looked away again, “You got on better with them that I do.” Her hair wrapped around herself, “I think they like you more than they like me.” 

“I very much doubt that.” Hordak said dryly, “They’re curious right now, and they’re slowly getting used to me. And…” he hesitated for just a moment before saying, “I think that they pity me.” he shuffled closer to Entrapta, wanting to hold her but not wanting to pull her in until she was comfortable, “If they actually spent time with me? Well… you saw what Mermista thought about us working together in the waypoint. She didn’t get it. None of them did. “

“... it was still kinda fun working through all that programming.” Entrapta said quietly. 

“Very.” Hordak agreed, “I wasn’t even mad at that point- I was enjoying myself.” 

Entrapta lifted her mask. There were dried tears on her face, and fresh one threatening to spill over. Still, she had lifted her mask, and that was a good sign. 

“I was angry at you…” Hordak said as carefully as calmly as he could manage, “Because you put yourself in danger. If Mermista or Glimmer put you in danger, I’d be twice as angry at them. If I put you in danger, I’d be angry with myself.” He put his hand on Entrapta’s cheek, “And if I put myself in danger, you’d be angry with me. You have been angry with me. And rightfully so!” 

Entrapta looked away, but didn’t put her mask back down. “I didn’t even think of telling anyone.” She said, “Most of the time… with the other princesses, if I want to run off and do something they stop me. Or they tell me it’s not worth the time. I just got used to just… going off.” She glanced up at Hordak, “I used to do it all the time, before the Fright Zone. The odd times we were working together? I could sneak off, deal with something, and just sneak back. Half the time nobody noticed a thing.” She gave a little half smile, “At the Princess Prom, I actually got to sneak away to take a peek at the mechanisms for delivering hot water around Frosta’s castle, and nobody even noticed!”

“Well… I would have noticed.” He said, “I should have noticed earlier than I did at the party, but I will notice if you’re gone. And I will worry. I’ll be quite frantic, actually.” 

“And... then you’ll be angry.” 

“If you put yourself in danger needlessly, yes.” He said. “... but I promise at least that I’ll never - never- shout at you in public again.” He knew that that would be hard, but he’d made it happen. He’d put a shock collar on himself before he yelled at Entrapta in public again. 

“... I’m sorry I ran off.” Entrapta finally said, “But I was just so excited.” 

“I know.” Hordak said, “I’d be excited too. But just tell me you want to go tinker with something next time. What’s more likely, that I’ll try to stop you, or that I’ll take the opportunity to get away from less important people and spend time with you while we poke at machinery?”

Entrapta gave a little giggle, and leaned into Hordak. As her hair wrapped around him, he felt himself start to relax. 

“I thought you’d still be angry with me.” she said. “I mean, I thought you’d be keeping away from me.” 

He didn’t want to tell her that he had bumped into Micah and Angella, and that they had advised him. That would entail telling her just how mad he had been, and how he had lost control of himself. 

“It occurred to me that if you were angry at me, and you kept away from me, then maybe I’d think you were done with me.” he held her close, “Mad or no, I’d never forgive myself if I made you feel like that.” 

“I won't’ run off anymore.” Entrapta said softly. 

“If you want to examine something, just tell me.” Hordak said, “if at all possible, I’ll make it happen.”

“How did you get away from the party?” Entrapta asked, “I thought you had to be there-” 

“Prime left early.” Hordak said. He remembered what Prime had said to Adora, that she was the main reason that he had come to the event. “And he wasn’t particularly interested in me anyway. Double Trouble said they’d make up some excuse for your absence, and “Sea Hawk” had to bring Mermista to bed because Mermista got very drunk.” 

Hordak felt Entrapta’s hair tighten around him, “Was she flirting with you?” She asked, “The way she was talking to you, and looking at you-”

“Mermista…” Hordak gave a sigh, “She needs to talk to Sea Hawk. And she needs to never drink around me again.” 

“Do you think she likes you?” 

“She does not.” Hordak said. “I think there’s parts of how I act that she wishes that Sea Hawk would adapt… which is moronic.” He frowned. “That’s a whole mess. I don’t want to be involved in that.” 

Entrapta gave another low laugh and relaxed against Hordak. “I’m glad you were here when I woke up.” She said, “ I was actually worried that you wouldn't be. That you’d be so mad you didn’t want to see me.” 

“If I ever got mad enough at you that I opted to stay away, it’s because I’d be worried that I’d say something hurtful.” Hordak said, “Which… I need to work on that. My anger.” He sighed as he rested his head atop of hers. He remembered how he had yelled at her before Catra sent her to beast island, and how much he regretted that. “I’m starting to think I have issues.” 

“So I do.” Entrapta said. “That’s fine; Imperfection is beautiful.” 

“Still. I don’t want to hurt you. I need to be better.” 

“So do I.” Entrapta said softly. She looked up at Hordak, “We’ll work on it together?” 

“Of course.” Hordak said. He gazed down at her, and very nearly went to kiss her gently on the lips when her stomach suddenly gave a loud gurgle. Entrapta flushed red, then laughed and gave a little snort. 

That snort at the end of her laugh. That lovely, beautiful snort. Hordak felt his chest swell as his ears twitched and a low chuckle escaped his lips. 

“Hungry?” He asked. 

“A little.” She said, still flushed. 

“What do you want?”

“Oooh.. mini pancakes?” 

Hordak glanced over at Imp, who nodded and took off, opening the window before they flew off towards the kitchens. 

“Close the window behind you!” Hordak shouted at Imp, who ignored him entirely. Entrapta laughed again and closed the window with her hair. 

“I’m really glad we’re still ok.” She said, “And that you don’t hate me.” 

“I thought you'd hate me.” Hordak admitted, “Because I was just as bad as Mermista-” 

“Not even close!” Entrpata said, Mermista treats me like dumb kid even though I’m much older than she is. Even Perfuma had me on a vine-leash when we infiltrated the Fright Zone.” 

Hordak felt the anger rise up in him again. He had gotten angry at Mermista for just suggesting that Entrapta should be on a leash. Perfuma had actually had her leashed? Against her will?

Entrapta leaned against him, “At least I know you’ll never do that to me.” She sighed. 

The anger ebbed away. It didn’t matter right now. Maybe it didn’t matter until Perfuma tried to do it again. If she did, then Hordak would have words with her. Well, first he’d rip apart the vines, and THEN he’d have words with her. 

Entrapta’s hair reached up to Hordak’s face, and pulled him closer so she could kiss him. Hordak allowed himself to be pulled towards her, his wings wrapping around her as he kissed her back. Maybe they had some stuff to work though, but they’d work through it together.


	112. Data

Entrapta was getting dressed. Hordak should have been getting dressed as well, but he was laying in bed, watching her. He was content to watch her pull the clothes over her skin, watch her hop as she pulled on coveralls, watch the way her hair slipped around her and caught the light. There was a slight iridescence to her hair that wasn’t easily noticed; It was very possible he was the first to see it. 

“You should get dressed.” Entrapta said with a grin as she caught him watching her, “Glimmer wants to see us both.” 

Hordak gave a deep sigh. He knew there was work to do. He knew that the other princesses would likely not be doing too much today because of their light night, but he and Entrapta still had stuff to do. He knew they had to talk to Glimmer. They had to talk to Adora. 

Another sigh. He’d have to go over all that again. He’d have to talk about prime. About the First ones. He’d have to figure out… Well, what could he do for Adora? Did they need She-ra? Could they manage without her and without the weapon that Light Hope had mentioned?

It was a lot of work. 

“What’s wrong?’ Entrapta said as he gave another sigh. 

“Come here?” 

Brows knit with confusion, Entrapta walked over to the bed. Her hair wrapped around Hordak’s wrist, “Are you ok?” 

Instead of answering, he pulled her down on the bed with him. She gave a little yelp as she fell, then a giggle as he wrapped his limbs around her and nuzzled at her neck. 

“Ten more minutes.” He murmured into her skin, “Ten more minutes like this, then we can get to work.” 

Entrapta gave a contented hum, then cuddled into him as she allowed her hair to wrap around him. 

“Ten more minutes.” 

======

“Unlike you to be late.” Glimmer said as Hordak and Entrapta- who was riding Emily today- entered their meeting room. Hordak glanced around, relieved at how few people were there - Just Glimmer, Bow, amd Adora. He had expected a full table again, but it was just them. 

He didn’t like to be late to things. 

“I was distracted, and lost track of time.” Hordak said quickly. 

“I’m sure you were.” Glimmer muttered, “At least that works with Double Trouble’s story for last night.” 

“Story? What story?” Hordka was legitimately confused. 

“You… you don’t remember?” Glimmer asked. 

“A lot happened last night.” Hordak said, his ears flat and his voice deadpan, “Forgive me if I don’t recall what was said in a particular moment- even my memory has its limitations.” to himself, he added, ‘Especially when Entrapta is in danger.’

“It’s not important.” Glimmer said quickly, “Anyway, we-” 

“Oh!” Entrapta said suddenly as she looked at Hordak, “Right. You said that Double Trouble made up some kind of story to cover for my absence. I’m guessing they said something about us wanting to be intimate, and then me being too exhausted to return to the party afterwards?”

“Anyway! We need to -” 

“Wait… is that really what Double Trouble said?” 

  
Glimmer gave a deep sigh, “Yes. But they said it in a cool way that honestly, you’re too shy to manage. You’d do the thing with the ears where they go floppy and turn blue.” She gave Hordak a look, “Double Trouble made you look good last night.” 

“...they did?” 

“Yeah.” Glimmer looked away, “Pulled off the act. You know, the whole ‘Lord Hordak’ thing.” She gave a sigh, “Anyway, you can thank them later.” She gestured to Adora, “There’s more important stuff.” 

Hordak took a look at Adora, and sat down. She hadn’t slept, that much was clear; there were dark circles under her red rimmed eyes. She didn’t have her wristband on, and for a moment Hordak worried that she had left it somewhere, but then saw Bow holding the sword carefully as he sat next to her. Bow caught Hordak’s look, and shrugged. 

“Adora didn’t want to take her sword today.” he said, “I figured we should keep it nearby.” 

“That was smart.” Hordak agreed. He turned to Adora, “You didn’t want to take the sword?” 

“I don’t want to use the sword.” She said, her voice sounding flat and empty, “I never want to use it again.” 

“She nearly broke it last night.” Bow added. 

Hordak suppressed a sigh before he turned back to Adora, “Even outside of combat, it’s healing effects are too useful to give up.” He paused as he considered this, “And… now that I think of it, clearly it couldn’t have been intended as only a weapon if it can heal.”

“What’s happening?” Entrapta asked, “Why don’t we want to use the sword?” 

“Hordak, you didn’t tell Entrapta anything?”

Hordak felt himself flush, “We were busy!” 

“Right.” Glimmer said with an irritated sigh. 

“I’m a weapon.” Adora said, “Designed by the first ones to use this sword, and destroy their enemies. Prime said that the First ones killed any races that stood before them.” She looked aside at the sword, “With that thing, and the weapon that Light Hope told us about. I won’t use it again.”

“And I did point out-” Hordak snapped, “That you’re no more of a weapon than I am.” 

“You’re not actually a clone though.” Adora pointed out. 

“But I was specially bred for Prime’s use.” Hordak snapped, “And conditioned and raised and trained for obedience. If you think that you’re a weapon, then I’m one too.” 

“Neither of you are weapons, silly.” Entrapta said. She patted Emily, “I mean, look at Emily. Emily was created, and designed to be a weapon.” She looked up at Hordak, “Right?” 

“Correct.” 

“But she’s not. I mean, ok, she can melt through steel in seconds, rapid-fire laser blasts in all directions, and has a built-in self-destruct function, but she’s not just a weapon. So, it doesn’t matter what she was designed for- in her case, patrolling and eliminating intruders in the Frightzone. That doesn’t matter. She’s just Emily now!” She smiled and then looked up, “Besides, I’ve designed a TON of bots for one thing, and they ended up being better for another, sooo… I’ve come to realize that design intention is just a suggestion. 

Hordak looked at Entrapta, smiled, and then looked back to Adora, “And that’s from the smartest person in the room, so you’d be a fool not to listen to her.” 

Entrapta smiled up at Hordak with a light flush, “I’d hardly say I’m the smartest person in the room.” 

“You are.” 

“But you taught me about portal tech, and -”   
  


“I simply had access to such information and technology, and you did not. If you had the same access as I had-” 

“If we could have just a bit more of your time and attention.” Glimmer groaned with her head in her hands, “Then you two kids can go have fun.” 

To Hordak’s surprise, Adora actually laughed. It was a short laugh, and one that sounded like tears could easily have overtaken it, but it was a laugh nevertheless. 

“I’m sorry.” She said after a moment, “Just... everyone else is stressed, and tired or hungover from last night, and you two were in the middle of it all and you’re just…” she gestured at them. “Like this. You seem happier. I thought that Scorpia said you guys were fighting.”

“We were. We made up.” Entrapta said quickly.

“That’s not the point.” Hordka said. He looked at Adora, “All that aside- ignoring the First Ones, what prime said, and what you think you are; What do you want to do?” 

She looked at Hordak, confused, “W-what?” 

“What. Do you want. To do?”

“...I don’t know.” she said softly. “I mean… It’s all been what I have to do, you know?” She looked at the sword, “All I wanted to do was protect my friends. All of them. Outside of that…” she shook her head, “I didn’t want all of this first ones stuff. I didn’t want to be one of the First Ones. But I also don’t want to be part of a weapon used for killing entire species.” She looked down, “But… you’re going to say I have to, right?” She glanced up at Hordak, “That I have to use it if I want to protect my friends.” 

“Not necessarily.” 

Adora’s expression shifted to one of confusion, along with Bow and Glimmer. 

“You… aren’t going to say that?” 

“Right now.” Hordak said carefully, “There’s too many variables, and too much we don’t know. We know what Light Hope said, and we know what Horde Prime said.“ he frowned, “Neither of them are particularly reliable. What they said might be based in some truth, but is that all the truth? What kind of bias did they slip into their “truth” when they gave you information?” he shook his head, “No. No, I would say you’re not ready to make an informed decision yet. I don’t even know anything about Horde Prime and the First Ones.” 

“Do you think you can get more information on the first ones?” Adora asked after a moment of silence, “I mean, from the information you got from Horde Prime?” 

“I can try.” Hordak said, “Though, they may not be called “The First ones” in his systems. Still, I have a range of dates I can work through, and some keywords.” he looked to Entrapta, “DH might be able to get more information than I can.” 

“Right. And I can work on extracting information from Light Hope.” There was an almost vicious glint in her eyes as she said that.

Adora shook her head, “You guys are busy doing the other stuff. The tech stuff, and the defensive-”   
  
“Oh, but this could be important!” Entrapta said, “Now that we’ve put some pieces together, we can get a wider picture of what happened when Etheria got thrown into Despondos, and why. I can probably get more information about how you came here-.” She gasped suddenly, “And I can probably find information on the portal that brought you here!” She said to Hordak, “I mean... I know that’s not really essential information at this point, but it’s still information you’ve been looking for!” 

“I am more than content to consider that unnecessary information...for the moment.” Hordak said. True, he had never really figured out how or why the portal that brought him here popped into existence in the first place – he assumed that the gravitational force from the singularity he was caught in, along with the myriad of other phenomena that tended to occur in space combat had caused it– but it wasn’t important at this moment. 

Well… not important outside of satiating his curiosity, and adding to his knowledge of portals and how they work. And of course Entrapta wanted to figure it out as well.

Hordak turned back to Adora, “Let us try to get more information.” Hordak said, “Let’s get some information without the bias of Horde Prime, or Light Hope before you make any grand decisions.” 

“And if it’s all awful? If even after we have everything, I don’t want to do this anymore?”

“...Nobody will make you use the sword, or be She-ra.” Hordak said slowly, “But I won’t lie and say that we’ll be fine without that power. Even without the weapon that Light Hope told us about, the power of She-Ra is not to be discounted.”

“... And what about Catra?” Adora asked, “If I don’t go to Horde Prime, then he might-“

“I will remind you-“ Hordak said through grit teeth, “That Catra had her chance. She was free of Horde Prime in the Wastes. I removed her collar, and she went back.” He glanced aside, “I assure you, at this point she knew exactly what she was going back to.” After a moment, he added, “But, I can ask DH to keep an eye on her. Maybe they can lower the shock force, or find a way to distract Horde Prime if things get bad.”

“...And they can tell us if she really needs help? If we need to get her out?”

“If it gets to that point…” Hordak said slowly, “Where Catra needs to get out of the Fright Zone…Then yes. We’ll get her out.”

“Promise?”

“I think I have a say in this.” Glimmer said. She looked to Adora, a sad look on her face, “Adora, I know you want to help her, but I can’t risk our friends for her.”

“...I’ll go back for her.”

There was silence as everyone turned to look at Entrapta. 

“... Entrapta.” Hordak said, his voice tense, but quiet, “She shocked you and sent you to Beast Island.’

“I know.” She said quietly, “But...I know how it is to feel alone. To feel like nobody’s coming to help you… and–” She glanced up at Glimmer, “If Glimmer can forgive me for making robots to fight the alliance, hacking the planet, and helping to build the portal that nearly destroyed everytyhing and nearly left her mother trapped forever in a pocket dimension, then I think I can forgive Catra for that.”

“We can worry about that if she actually needs the help.” Glimmer said as she put her face in her hands, “At this point, she’d probably just betray us.” 

“I’ll speak to DH regardless.” Hordak said, “They can make things easier at least.”

Adora nodded, “Thanks.” She said quietly. 

“Now then.” Hordak said as he stood up, “Let’s go get some data.”


	113. First ones

The first thing Hordak did when he got back to the room was log onto the computer to see if DH had gotten back to him. He needed to know if DH had been able to stop Prime’s scout drones from sending any information back to Prime himself. He also needed to tell DH about Catra, and see if they could find any information about the first ones. 

He expected a brief message back from DH from the night before. He had not expected the twelve that he saw. 

DH: T1, I already have all the footage under my control. Of course I’m editing out anything that might catch Horde Prime’s interest.

DH: Also, I’m keeping an eye on your mate. She’s followed the drones to the waypoint. 

DH: there were guard bots defending it, but I set them to passive. 

DH:.... and she’s reprogrammed them. 

DH: Also, she seems to be stuck. I’m going to try to do what I can to get her loose. 

DH: I lost all eyes on the area. Is everything alright?

DH: T1, I’m serious. I’ve lost everything. I’m not connected to the waypoint anymore. All the bots are offline or back at the waypoint, so I can’t see anything that’s going on. 

DH: I hope you got your mate back, because I’m starting to get some strange GPS readings from the waypoint too. It’s moving all over the place. 

DH: It just blipped about 50 miles from its location. 

DH: And now it’s gone. I really hope you got your mate back. 

DH: ANd if you could let me know that you’re ok, that’d be good. 

DH: I’m honestly a little worried right now, knowing you, you probably ran after her, and I'm worried you got caught in whatever happened to the waypoint. 

It occurred to Hordak that maybe he should have checked on DH before he spent the whole morning cuddling with Entrapta. Hordak’s ears drooped as he felt a pang of guilt. DH didn’t even have anyone to talk to if they were worried, they just had their own thoughts, and the commands sent to them by Horde Prime. 

T1: I’m ok. Entrapta is ok. I should have gotten in touch with you earlier. A lot happened. 

DH: If you ever scare me that badly again, I will tell everyone about that bar with the karaoke!

T1: No you won’t; you swore you’d never tell anyone about that, or anything related to that. 

DH: I know, I know. That goes for the karaoke nights afterwards. It’s a shame. You have a lovely voice. 

T1: You swore!

DH: I know, I know. But still; don’t scare me like that. 

T1: Apologies. Entrapta needed help. I got mad at her afterwards. 

DH: What do you mean you got mad at her!?

T1: I yelled at her. But it’s ok now! We made up. I apologized. She apologized for running off. 

DH: I wish I was there to hug you. Look at you; getting into fights and apologizing without getting drunk. You weren’t drunk, were you?

T1: I was not! 

DH: I was really worried. The day was half over. I was waiting for a report to come back saying you had died. 

T1: Entrapta and I required some time alone after last night. 

DH: Ah! Yes! The fake T1 told me that Entrapta required your attentions, and was now too exhausted to return to the party. I assumed that was just something they told me to explain away her absence, but apparently there was some truth to it. 

Hordak groaned and put his face in his hands. He hadn’t wanted to know exactly what Double Trouble had said, and this at least was better than the worse thing he had imagined. Still, he liked his private life to be private, and not the subject of casual party conversation. 

Another message popped up drawing Hordak’s attention. 

DH: Next time, just let me know you’re alive before “spending time” with your mate. 

T1: Understood. Now please drop it. 

DH: I’m just happy for you! And I can’t wait to meet Entrapta. 

T1: I can’t wait to get you out of there. You’ll love Entrapta. 

DH: I will love her like a sister if she’s important to you! I know she is. The way your ears wiggle when you talk about her… or, I guess that’s the fake T1’s ears. They really got you down. Mostly. There was a definite disdain when they looked at Catra though. 

T1: Speaking of Catra, is she more or less alright?

DH: As alright as one of Prime’s pets can be. 

T1: She mustn’t be treated too badly there; she went back from the wastes. I gave her a chance to get out. 

DH: I’m sure she has her reasons. 

T1: Yes, and I’m certain they’re just as good as her reasons for tasing my mate and sending her to Beast Island to die thinking she’d been abandoned. And for making me think she’d left me.

DH: You do hate her.

T1: Yes. but others here don’t. They’re concerned for her safety. Are you able to keep an eye on her?

DH: I can. 

T1: And if things get too hard for her, will you let us know. 

DH: She seems tougher than you give her credit for. Do you really hate her?

T1: I think I’d hate anyone who hurt Entrapta like that. 

DH: Fair enough. 

T1: I have another favour to ask.

DH: Alright; but I have a favour to ask next! 

T1: What is it? I’ll do anything you want. 

DH: Can we just talk for a bit after? Like we used to? I want to know more about your friends, and Entrapta. 

T1: You don’t have to ask that as a favour. 

DH: I know, but you’ve been so busy, we haven’t had a chance to talk in a while. 

More guilt. Hordak promised himself on the spot that he’d spend at least an hour a day talking to DH. He’d make the time. 

T1: Of course. We can talk about anything you want!

DH: Thank you! What do you need first?

T1: I’m looking for information on a race called the “First Ones.” that’s what they’re called here. I don’t know what they would have been called in the wider universe. 

DH: Oh. That would be the Deltanians. They started to call themselves “First Ones” when they started colonizing other solar systems, because they thought they were the ‘first ones’ to commence with interstellar colonization. Not very clever, if you ask me. 

Hordak froze, his hands hovering over the keyboard. He hadn’t expected this information so fast; He thought that DH would need to do some research on them. 

T1: How did you know about them

DH: when I got put into Prime’s systems, I started looking for all kinds of information. I was especially interested in information he had attempted to purge. It took a while, but I was able to restore almost every document he’s ever tried to destroy or hide. That’s how I knew about project rebirth, and about Chilacians. If Prime wanted it gone, I made sure to find it and save it. And trust me, there’s a lot he wanted gone. 

DH: what did you want to know about them?

======

Well, the First Ones were, if not the first race to start colonizing the universe, then at least they were the first that got much success. They had a strange science that they used - one that was hard to explain, and harder to master. 

Most other peoples called it magic and left it at that. Still, that allowed them to start conquering. Horde Prime had the better part of his first galaxy conquered when they met up first. There’s not a lot written about the interpersonal interactions between Prime and the leaders of the First ones, but there’s recordings, and video. They were very arrogant. They very much considered Prime, “Small time” and offered to let him rule over his galaxy so long as he was loyal to them. 

Yeah, that’s where Prime got the idea from. Conquer a group, and let them do what they want so long as they report to you. To be fair, there’s not many other ways to conquer a whole universe. Can you even imagine the logistical issues of trying to have a hand in the running of every planet? That’d be impossible on a galactic level!

Sorry, right. Prime nearly joined them! It made sense to him; they were already in the process of “Unifying the universe.” and if he could support them, it would achieve the same goals. But there was one big difference; the First ones would destroy a species if they thought it was for the betterment of the universe. I mean, they didn’t go around doing that to every species that opposed them, but it was something they did. Prime on the other hand wouldn’t destroy a whole species, but he would enslave the remainder of a species that opposed him. The First Ones thought that putting a while species into slavery was abhorant. Prime thought that it was better than killing the whole species. 

They disagreed. Heatedly. Insults were thrown - some very personal, and they ended up fighting. It was a long war, and honestly the First Ones should have won it; they had greater resources, and this ‘magic’ that Prime really couldn’t understand. But they had this weapon they were working on, and it backfired. Prime never really figured out why it backfired, but that didn’t matter. The weaponry that the first ones had required a lot of energy, and a stabilizing force. Apparently, the stabilizing force just went offline, or disappeared, and all that energy rebounded back on the first ones and destroyed pretty much their entire military, and most of their civilian population. The remainder either disappeared, or made their planets self-destruct to keep from being put into slavery. 

Honestly, this is all part of why Horde Prime is so interested in this planet. He wants to know more about it. He has a theory - and from the data I’ve collected It’s pretty well confirmed- that this planet was made by the first ones. It always bothered him that he never mastered their magic, never broke it down and learned how to use it. He thinks he’ll be able to do it here, but he needs to find an actual First One to cooperate with him to do that.

======

When Entrapta came back, Hordak was still at the computer typing away as he talked to DH. Imp was asleep on his lap, but woke when Entrapta came in riding atop Emily. 

“Any luck?” She asked. 

Hordak bid his goodnight to DH and turned to her. “A bit.” He said, “A while ago, actually. DH just wanted to talk for a little.” He trailed off as he took in Entrapta’s expression. She didn’t look happy. “What’s wrong?” he asked, “Didn’t you find any information?” 

“Lots.” she said. “And nobody’s going to like it.”


	114. Magic

It wasn’t until noon the next day when they could get everyone together to give them the information they had found. Hordak’s message - sent via Imp- to Glimmer that they had a lot of information and would need to speak to everyone. The message sent back was a sleepy response of surprise. Glimmer hadn’t expected Hordak and Entrapta to find any information right away, and she especially didn’t expect them to have enough to warrant a meeting. 

“First things first-” Hordak said, since he could give the necessary information faster than the others could, “Adora, you cannot go to the Fright Zone. Under any circumstances!” He added the last part as she started to sputter and protest. 

“Why not?” Glimmer asked him. 

Hordak gave a sigh, “Horde Prime is very aware of the weapon. I don’t know how much information he has on the planet itself, but he knows it’s been constructed. He’s not stupid, he can make the leap from that to it’s potential place in the weapon from there.” He frowned, “Apparently, not mastering First Ones Tech- and specifically, their use of magic- bothered him. He has an interest in studying and researching this, and in a sense, cracking the weapon and learning how to use it.” He pointed at Adora, “He needs a first one to do this. He cannot be allowed to learn how to use the weapon, so you can’t go.” 

Glimmer nodded, “That… yeah.” She turned to Adora, “I’m sorry Adora… but you can’t go. Even if we look over how … how-” 

“Dangerous? Reckless? Life-Threatening it could be!?” Bow interjected. 

“Yes.” Glimmer said, “Even if we look past all that-” 

“From a purely logical standpoint, you can’t go.” Hordak said. 

“But what about Catra!?” Adora demanded as she stood up and pounded a fist on the table. 

“Wait… what about Catra?” 

Hordak cursed under his breath as he shot a glance to Scorpia. He hadn’t spoken to her since the night of the party, and even if he had it wasn’t his intention to tell her about Catra.” 

“DH said that they could watch over her.” Hordak said, “and let us know if anything bad happens.” 

“She went back to the Fright Zone?” Scorpia asked. Hordak hated how small her voice sounded. He took a deep breath. 

“Yes. She did.” He said, “She didn’t seem happy at the party, but DH says that she’s fine. They’ll also alert us if she needs immediate assistance, and will do what they can to keep her safe.” 

“Can they do much?” Adora asked. 

“More than you think.” Hordak said, “They’re essentially integrated with Prime’s systems and techs. They’ve found a loophole where they can essentially hide and thus have unlimited access to-” They looked around, and saw most eyes around the table start to glaze over. He sighed. “Yes. DH has control of the whole system.” 

“Wait.” Frosta said, “If they do, why not have DH blow everything up!?” 

“A variety of reasons.” Hordak said through clenched teeth, “ First, DH would die. Second, As soon as DH tried to do that, Prime would be able to stop it. Just because DH has access, doesn’t mean that there’s no fail safes.” Hordak leaned back, “Basically, DH has one chance to do something big. If that fails, DH is dead, or worse.” He shook his head, “We follow through with the plan.” 

“Is the plan even doable now?” Perfuma asked as she glanced at Adora, looking at the spot on her arm where normally her armband would be, “Without that weapon-” 

“Speaking of.” Adora said, cutting Perfuma off, “Did DH say anything about the First Ones?”

“They warred. Horde Prime won.” 

“That’s it?” Adora asked, “Why did they fight?” 

“Well, Prime already told you that the First Ones would wipe out any species that stood against them. Prime didn’t do that. Prime would instead decimate a population and turn the rest into a slave race.” Hordak leaned back in his chair, his arms crossed, “they took exception to one another’s methods.” He looked aside, “Like I said, there’s no good guys or bad guys in this; it was war.” 

“Right.” Adora said as she looked away. “Right.She shook her head and looked at Entrapta, “You got really excited when you were poking through Light Hope’s systems yesterday. Too excited-” 

“Well, that wasn’t really because of what I found.” Entrapta said, “I was poking at her programming, tweaking it-” 

Adora suddenly sat upright, looking horrified, “Entrapta, I told you not to change anything-” 

“You told me not to break anything. Or make Light Hope capable of feeling pain. Or reset her memory. Or pull out her harddrive. You said nothing about making some positive changes, and I think it’s for the best!”

Adora put her hands in her face and muttered something. She looked up again, “You can’t just poke at Light Hope-” 

“OH! But I can! And I did!” She lifted up her datapad and started showing off rows and rows of data. “I went into her brain and picked apart everything-” 

“While I was trying to fight off defensive spiders, might I add.” Adora grumbled. 

“I turned them off within 5 minutes.” Entrapta said, “Now then. Regarding the use of emotional manipulation in training procedures: She was programmed to do that.” She looked up, “Do any of you know what Light Hope’s primary function is?” 

“Yeah.” Adora said, “Training the new She-ra.” 

“Nope!” Entrapta said, “It’s to set off the weapon at any cost once the command has gone though.” 

“Well.. the First ones are gone, right?” Adora said, “So the command can’t go through.” 

“Wrong again!” Entrapta said, “The command went through just before Mara barred up Etheria. The weapon has been on charge and standby mode since then, cycling through prerequisites to fire the weapon.” 

Hordak felt his stomach drop. A Chilacian curse rolled off his tongue. “That means it’s been gathering energy since Etheria has been stuck here?!” he demanded, “It’s been building energy?” 

“Right!” Entrapta said, “But needs stuff to actually fire. Light Hope has been trying to fill that. Right now, she’s working on fulfilling a syncing issue. Basically, all the princesses who would be connected to a runestone must be connected to their runestone. There’s a problem with that.” She looked up at Scorpia, “I think that’s you.” She said, “And the Black Garnet.”

“Wait.” Adora said, “What was the first thing she needed?” 

”Entrapta's expression dropped to one of sadness, her hair drooping as she looked at Adora, “Well… the first thing she needed was a First One. So, she managed to open a portal and bring you through.” 

There was silence around the table for several long minutes before Adora, looking like she didn’t know if she wanted to scream or cry finally said, “Light Hope brought me here?” 

“How though.” Hordak said, “When we opened the portal, we nearly unmade everything. How could she have opened it without doing that?” 

“That’s the interesting part!” Entrapta said as she perked up again. She pressed some buttons on her datapad, “There was another portal that managed to break through the protections, and bring someone in. But…” She frowned as she looked at the data, “It… well, it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It’s not magic as we know it. It’s no form of science as I know it. It’s not First Ones, or Horde Tech.” She glanced up from her data pad and looked at Hordak, “The readings she collected… if I judge the time, it’s the portal that brought you here. And it came from outside Despondos. 

Hordak’s ears perked up as he leaned forward. She had been telling him all this last night, but they had gotten distracted, and never ended up going over all the data. “Gravitational stress?” He asked, “From the singularity I was caught in? Ley Lines?”

“None of that. Again, it’s not something I’ve ever seen or heard before.” she pressed one more button on her Datapad. 

There was a sound. It was faint at first, but Hordak could just make out some kind of melody playing under the distorted static. He started to pick out the rhythm-

It was like he slipped away. Every part of him was suddenly focused on that melody- the entire processing capacity of his impressive brain was dedicated to it. Picking it out, deciphering it, and paying attention to it. He couldn’t feel his body - but that didn’t matter. He couldn’t hear anything. He didn’t know where he was. 

None of that mattered. He couldn’t even register those things as concerns in the moment- it would be only afterwards that he realized what had happened. The dipped and rose, swelled-

-And then he was back. Somehow, he was on the floor. There was a pain in his head and Entrapta was over him, her hair around him as she called his name. Hordak frowned, rubbed the painful, fresh bump on his forehead, and pushed himself up to sit. 

“... why am I on the floor?” He asked. 

“You fell!” Frosta said from next to him, “One second you were fine, then you just-” 

“Your gem was glowing!” Perfuma said as she pointed to the spot on her chest where a necklace might hang, “The gem Entrapta gave you. It just started glowing!” 

“It was like you just got turned off. Like that-” Entrapta said as she snapped the tendrils of her hair. “Did that sound knock you out.” 

“No… it didn’t.” 

Shadow Weaver had been silent up to this point, content to just listen to the information and watch the producers. She had spent nearly every meeting leaning against the wall behind glimmer, drinking from a wine glass. The wine glass now lay in pieces at her feet, and the blood-red wine was splattered all over the floor. 

“How would you know.” Hordak snapped, though she was right. He didn’t get knocked unconscious, not really. 

“None of you are trained in the fine art of magicks.” She said. She gestured carelessly to the princesses at her side, “You can use it, innately, but you can’t sense it like I can. You’ve not made a study of it.” 

“So the sound was magic?” Entrapta asked. “Ohh, or First Ones science? Is that why the gem started glowing? They do tend to react around magic-” 

“No.” Shadow weaver said. “ She strode across to Hordak, “Every person I have ever met emits some magic. It’s like breathing, gently blowing. Normally, it’s negligible. It’s only ever noticed either if someone pays specific attention to the magic coming off of a person, or if the magic is in use like when a princess uses their magic, in which case it’s a quick burst of wind - if I am to carry this analogy- before the magic actually takes effect.” Hordak rose to his feet as Shadow Weaver came to stand just before him, “You - as it happens- have the weakest magical output I’ve ever sensed in a person. Ever.” 

“That might explain why Horde Prime doesn’t like magic.” Entrapta said, “If Chilacians can’t use it-”

“That would be wrong.” Shadow Weaver said, “When you passed out... It was like a hurricane. All this magical energy looking for somewhere to go!” She turned to look at Entrapta again, “That sound didn’t make him pass out. It turned him into a magical power source. He started producing his own magical energy. A lot of his own magical energy at an unprecedented rate.” 

“I don’t use magic.” Hordak said, his voice flat. “And something you can sense, but that nobody else in this room can? That’s convenient.” 

“Doubt me if you will.” Shadow Weaver said, “But as Entrapta said, the First Ones crystals tend to react around magic, and yours didn’t just sparkle or glitter, it glowed. It was bright.”

Hordak reached his hand up to the pendant. That made no sense. “I was producing magic?” He said. 

“A lot. And from no discernible source. That would be useful if you could use magic. Where you can’t it just whirled around until the music stopped.” Shadow Weaver seemed to shiver, “It distorted … all the magic in the room.” 

Glimmer frowned. She closed her eyes, and a few sparks formed around her, but nothing happened. 

“... I can’t teleport!” She suddenly cried. 

“It’s locational.” Shadow Weaver said, “The magics here are distorted, and can’t be used.” 

“For how long!” Glimmer demanded. Shadow Weaver only shrugged. 

“Who knows.” 

“Hordak?” Bow said, “You have that disk from Light Hope with all the Chilacian stuff on it. Can Chilacians use magic?” 

“No! There’s no studies, there’s no books on it, there’s nothing!” 

“Nothing?” Bow said, “Not a single word about magic?”

Hordak hesitated, his ears flicking down, “I came across some old stories. For children. Fairy tails, basically. BUt that’s not-” 

“What did they say?” Shadow Weaver asked. 

“I didn’t pay attention.” Hordak said, “they were clearly for children, and I was looking for other information!” 

There was silence among them. Entrapta got up, wrapped her hair around Hordak’s waist, and pulled him from the room. “Come on,” she said as they left, “Let’s go research some old fairy tails.”


	115. Asma

“Did you find them?” Entrapta asked after Hordak had scoured through the files that he had been given for over an hour.

“Yes.” He said as he brought up the files, “But there's a problem.” He turned on themusic to play, and looked at Entrapta as she listened. “There’s no transcript. It’s all in music.”

“Well, that's not a problem.” Entrapta said, “You have translation software-“

“It’s not designed for spoken word.” Hordak leaned. Back in his chair, “So I’d have to translate it manually. “

‘You can do that though. “

“”I can, but there's a lot of these stories, and I don't know why I’m even looking over. Them!” He pushed the datapad away from himself. “This doesn't help anything, not right now! All I wanted to know about my portal wash how it opened! it was just for my own curiosity!”

“I know.” Entrapta said as she wrapped her hair around him, “But whatever opened the portal triggered something in you. If you could use magic-“

“I cant!” Hordak snapped. He took a deep, calming breath and softened his tone, “Sorry, I’m not angry... I’m just-“ Frightened was what he was. Terrified. “Frustrated.”

Magic. Magic energy swirling about him like a hurricane. Apparently it was overwhelming magical energy if it could leave Shadow Weaver so visibly shaken. Credit where it was due, she was one of the most powerful mages that he had ever known. The idea that he had somehow produced something that she didn’t know how to deal with was disconcerting.

Nope. he didn’t like that.

“Well, I understand that!” Entrapta said, “You’re always frustrated when there’s a new problem, but think about all the new data we could record! You’re sure you can’t remember what was said? Or what was being sang?” 

“No.” Hordak said, “I was focused on the actual melody, not the words. I couldn’t tell you what words were there, or if there were words.”

“Well, that’s no problem! We can fix that!” She pulled at some wires from her growing stash of supplies, “Maybe I could hook something up to you to record various energy signatures coming off your body. Then, if I play that sound again-” 

“No!” 

Entrapta stopped, not because Hordak sounded angry, but because he sounded scared. He looked at her with his ears pinned back and down, and his eyes wide. 

“...Hordak?” 

“No... just… no, don’t play it again.” 

“What did you hear?” 

Hordak turned away and let his eyes flick over the titles to the various songs he had found- songs that held what he considered to be fairy tails of the Chilacians. 

“You really didn’t hear anything?” He asked. 

“There was static, and some distortion. I didn’t hear a melody. None of us did.” 

“Really, all I could make out was a melody; a handful of notes.”

  
“I thought... Maybe you heard something bad. When you passed out-” 

“I didn’t.” Hordak said. “I didn’t pass out. Not really.” he reached up to his head, “It was…. It was like I was drawn into myself. Every part of me was focused on that sound, and I couldn’t…” He trailed off. 

Entrapta wrapped her hair around him, and came up behind him as she rested against his back with her arms around his shoulders. “You couldn’t what?” 

“... iIf that sound had been allowed to go on, I would have stayed like that.” Hordak said. He reached up and rubbed the bump on his head, “I didn’t even feel this.”

Entrapta hummed as she pressed her cheek against his neck. After a long moment of silence, she finally said, “...It was scary, wasn’t it?” 

Hordak didn’t respond. He wasn’t one to react to a new puzzle with fear. If there was something he feared, then pulling it apart and understanding it was the only way to get over that fear. Just because you were afraid of something, just because you closed your eyes to it, didn’t mean it wasn’t there.

That was why he hated magic; He couldn’t understand it. He couldn’t study it. He couldn’t determine possible outcomes to experiments with any amount of certainty. 

“...I realize that this is something that will have to be addressed at some point.” He said, “Ignoring it would be at best foolish; at worst, dangerous.” he reached up and wrapped a hand around Entrapta’s hand, “But for the moment, I’d rather not dive into it. There’s more important things to do, and bigger issues to deal with.” He sighed, “Knowing that Light Hope brought Adora here... Well, I don’t know if it helps her, but at least we have a very good reason why she can’t go to the Fright Zone. Knowing how she was brought here… or how I was brought here isn’t nearly as important.” 

“It is to you.” Entrapta said softly.

“Maybe.” Hordak said, “Maybe it's something to look into afterwards.” 

“I know.” Entrapta said. “but...I think you should still look into this.” She leaned up and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek as she stroked his hair, “If this can give us some insight to a weakness of Prime’s, then maybe we won’t need She-Ra.”

“We’ll still need She-ra.” Hordak said, “We’ll need every advantage.” 

“Then we need this too.” 

Another sigh. Hordak lifted Entrapta’s hand and kissed it, “Very well.” He said, “I’m not about to argue with you; we’ve determined that you’re smarter than I am.” he frowned at the screen once more, “There’s still the problem of translation. I can’t possibly translate all of this myself.” 

“Maybe DH could help?” Entrapta ventured, “And you don’t need all of it. Just see if you can find anything that relates to what happened? Any stories that involve music or songs or -”    
  


“Or involuntary trance states.” he said. He sighed, and looked through them again, “Maybe it’s best if I just start listening. If I find something that might be necessary, I can translate.” 

“Right.” Entrapta said. She sighed and leaned on him, “I feel kinda bad. I dragged you away before we could really finish telling them what we found. I mean, I more or less told them everything. Light Hope brought her here because she needs a first one to activate the weapon. That was one of the missing conditions.” 

Hordak nodded. “Right.” he said, “Then the runestones need to be synced-” 

“Which probably can’t happen because Scorpia says she never connected to the Black Garnet.” 

“Which means even if the last condition is met, we don’t have to worry about the weapon firing without us intending to use it.” He shook his head, “One thousand years of stored power? That could rip the planet apart.” 

“Oh easily!” Entrapta said, “Imagine what we could do with that energy if we could actually harness it!” 

“I should be looking into that right now.” Hordak said as he went to close up the files he had brought up, “That’s more important than-”   


Entrapta held his hand back with her hair, “That can wait.” She said, “I want to compile some information and create a basic schematic for how the weapon works first. While I’m doing that, you can research this stuff! That magical energy you gave off, that could be used too.” 

Hordak sighed, nodded, and leaned in to give Entrapta kiss before getting to work. 

It was only an hour later when he had something that might be important enough to translate. 

======

Chilacian Fairy Tails - Translation 1; with notes. 

“Split” (Could be divergence. Separation. Specifically, refers to a split in a road.) 

  
Before the time of great cities ( Appears to be a common opening time- meaning: before recorded civilization) there was an individual who, with their mate, sailed the purple hued seas of Spilaio. (appears to be a home-planet name) For a time, they were happy and the days passed unchecked. 

The individual, Salthis ( Transliteration. I am unsure of the name origin) eventually became pregnant with their mate’s child. Their mate was worried about staying on the ocean in their boat-home, but Salthis loved the sea, and would not be taken from it. They wanted their child to grow up on the sea, and learn to love it as they had. Their mate, only wanting Salthis to be happy, agreed that they would stay on the ocean. 

The storm that came was sudden and unexpected. If they had more warning, then it would have been possible to find a safe port, but they had none. The clouds rolled in, the ocean grew angry, and their boat was thrown around by the wind and waves. In the chaos that followed, Salthis was thrown overboard and fell into the waters. 

It was in the calm of the next day when they woke, stranded on a small rock in the middle of the ocean. There was no vegetation, and no fruit to eat, and no way to protect themselves from the night’s chill. Salthis’s left wing had also been badly damaged, and they were unable to fly. 

Stuck on this rock, they waited for their mate to find them. They wrapped their good wing around them at night to keep themselves and their unborn baby warm. They searched in the daytime over the ocean to see if they could find any other ship. They called out to anyone who might hear them. Nobody came, and they were left alone. 

On the third day, weak from hunger and sick from the night’s chill, they gave up. They sat by the water, their hand over their protruding belly, and waited for death. They wept, knowing that they would feel not their own death first, but the death of their child. They wept, knowing that while they had at least lived and known love, their child would never get to take their first breath. They would never hear sweet songs (The word for song and story is interchangeable.) in their ear, and would never know love. 

They knew that one of the few things it was said an unborn child could enjoy was the song of their carrying parent. They put their hand on their belly, lay down, and sang. There were no words to their song, for it was not a sensible language- it was the language of sorrow and loss. It was words that could be felt, but not understood. It was their dying song for what was lost, and for what would never be. 

Their song moved the ocean. The waves stilled so that the sea might better listen. The winds died down, and even the skrna ( from what I understand, a mix between a bird and a cat) who hunted in the waters around the rock fell silent to listen to the mournful song. 

As Salthis lapsed into unconsciousness, they fell into the ocean. They should have drowned, but the ocean was so moved by their song that it carried them across its length and to the nearest sea-side city, a small colony that would become known later as Theotrypa. They woke, weakened, but alive, and with their baby still alive and well within them. They told their story, but it wasn’t believed until their child was born. Even before they had words, they could cry out in song and speak the wordless language of feeling to all those around. As they grew older they seemed able to sing to the planet, to the elements and animals, and coax them to do as they wished. It was a skill that they were able to teach to a select few of their peers, while others who listened simply grew entranced by their song. 

The child, Asma, grew up, and grew old. They had children of their own, and taught them to sing as they themselves did. They would gladly teach any who wished to learn, and many did though not all who wished to could. They wished to pass on this skill, but could not find any capable to teach it. As they grew older, their search became more desperate until it became clear that they would not find one who could carry on the skill. 

Finally, on their death day, Asma went to a cave just outside the city, followed by a small group of students. They sat on a simple stone, and started to sing. They sang of their parents, and they sang of the sea. They sang of sorrow, of joy, of love, and of hate. They sang the song they used to teach those who wished to learn. 

Then, when the song was over, they sang it again. And again. And Again. The days and months and years passed by, and their song continued, though they never again opened their eyes, never again moved their mortal body, never again spoke a single word save for the song that they repeated through the ages. 

And thus, Asma was the first Zontano Tragoudi. (Transliterated. The first word means “living” but the last one is the same word that could mean song, but it’s mixed with other words that makes it difficult to translate. )

  
  
  
  



	116. Importance

Translating the fairy tale songs was harder than Hordak though, but he was making progress. To be fair, half of the intent and meaning in the worlds came from the tone and the melody- since of course you couldn’t see the ear movements of the singers- so half the work was listening to a section over and over again to figure out how the song made him feel, and then try to translate that into Etherian. 

To be perfectly honest, listening and really paying attention to how the music and the lyrics made him feel was hard. 

Hordak wouldn’t admit to anyone that there had been tears while he translated. He’d never admit that Entrapta had been close to him the whole time, her hair gently petting his own hair. 

And he’d never admit that one time when she pulled her hair away, he had reached out, his fingers just brushing the ends of her hair as he whispered, “Please, stay?” 

Nope. As far as Hordak was concerned, that had never happened. Neither had Imps attempts at comforting him, nor his awkward attempts to explain that nothing was wrong, just the stupid fairy tales were sad. 

Given his distraction, it was only to be expected that he missed the knock on the door. It wasn’t until Entrapta’s hair pulled away from him and she opened the door that he realized anyone was there. He turned away quickly and rubbed his eyes. He hoped it wasn’t Double Trouble; that shapeshifter had gotten good at reading his ears, and wasn’t shy about pointing that out. 

“Heeeey,” came Bow’s overly cheerful voice, “How are you guys doing?” 

“We’re great Bow!” Entrapta said back, “Hordak’s working through some of the more important fairy tales, and I’ve got a lot of work down on the schematics for-” 

“Yeah but… Are you guys -alright-?” 

“Uh... yeah? Why wouldn’t we be.” 

Hordak heard Bow sigh before taking a few steps towards him, “Are you alright, Hordak?” 

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Hordak said, his voice flat as he was still in the process of composing himself. The music was off, he’d be fine.

“You two missed supper, and...Well, you kinda passed out, right? After channelling magic. And we know you don’t like magic.” He set something down on the table next to Hordak- A tray with two smoothies on them. “We’re worried about you.” 

“You are?” Hordak glanced up at the young archer, confusion clearly written across his face- clear enough even for an Etherian to see it. 

“Come on.” Bow said as he turned away, “Yeah, we worry about you. Both of you. You’re our friends. And you guys took off so fast, and then you didn’t come back.” 

It was so strange to hear someone so casually say that they were friends. Sure, Hordak knew that the princesses at least respected him, and maybe pitied him. Bow had said that they were friends in a tone which said that Hordak should have known that. 

Entrapta’s hair shrugged, “Well, we wanted to get to work on the translations-” 

“Which I pointed out already aren’t necessary for our immediate needs.” he frowned as he closed the file with his translation on it, “How is Adora?” 

“She’s… not great.” Bow admitted, “I mean, it’s a lot to take in. She just found out that she’s part of a weapon…” He turned to Entrapta, “Could Light Hope tell you anything about Adora? You said that she needs Adora to activate the weapon. Do you know where she came from?” 

“Well, no, but I CAN say that there’s a 99.99% chance that Adora wasn’t ‘manufactured’-” Her hair made little quotation marks in the air, “-or even created in a laboratory setting like Hordak was.” 

“Unless there’s a group of first ones out there actively trying to activate a weapon that failed them one thousand years ago-” Hordak muttered, “And then created a baby specifically to activate the weapon, then I very much doubt it.” 

“Well… You’re the one who found her.” Bow said, “Hordak? Was Adora different or anything when you found her? Was there anything strange about her?” 

As the memory came back to Hordak, his ears flicked down protectively, “She had the shrillest, loudest, more piercing screech I have ever heard. Ever. On Etheria, and off.” At first Adora had been fine. She was peaceful, curious, she even grabbed his hand. Then seemingly out of nowhere the screeching started. He had a migraine for days afterwards. 

“Anything else?” Bow asked, though there was a hint of laughter on his voice. 

Hordak reached out for the smoothie, “No. Not that I noticed.” He said, “Shadow Weaver was the one who noticed anything different about her. The oddest thing for me was that she was abandoned in the middle of the field in the aftermath of a portal event.”

“Yeah, and nobody’s talking to Shadow Weaver right now.” Bow said. Hordak turned around, setting one arm on his crossed legs as he held his smoothie. 

“She’s not talking?”

“After you left, she took off to do research.” Bow gave a little grin, “I think you scared her. At the very least, she didn’t expect that level of magic from you. Maybe she’s angry that you created it at all.” 

Hordak couldn’t help the smirk that pulled at his lips, “Well.” He said, “She needn’t worry too much- I very much doubt I’ll be casting spells at any point.” 

“Well, I mean, if you can learn the spells-” 

“I have no interest.” Hordak said quickly, “And even if I did, it’s not like what happened is something I can control. In fact-” He glanced back at the screen, “I did find something that alludes to what happened to me- Chilacians going into trances while listening to a specific kind of music-”

“Which is exactly what happened to you-” 

“But there was no information on producing magic in such a state. Also, I - surprisingly- am not well trained in the art of literary interpretation!” He looked away from the screen in disgust, “I can find the materials, and I can translate them. I don’t know what they mean, and I don’t even know that much about the Chilacian culture to provide a good viewpoint!” He frowned, feeling his wings tighten around him - that was an odd feeling that he was slowly getting used to. “I don’t know what I’m doing.” 

“I keep telling him that it’s fine.” Entrapta said, “I mean, he’s researching the culture now, and it’s not like he had access to any of this information before … well, you know-” Her hair waved about in the air, “Everything.” 

Bow nodded, but he was lost in thought now - his eyes staring off into nothing. “You know.” He said, “If you need some work interpreting this, I might know someone.” 

“Someone who knows about Chilacian culture, who isn’t Horde Prime?” Hordak asked, his ears and voice flat. 

“No no. Someone who's used to interpreting a society from … limited materials.”

“Historians then.” Hordak said. 

“Consider them more folklorists. Archeologists. If you get a bunch of stuff together, I can send it to them and we can plan a meeting later.” 

Hordak froze, staring at Bow for a moment before he shook his head, “No.” He said, “No no. It’s not important. This isn’t important-” He pushed himself away from the computer, “None of this is actually important, and I shouldn’t be working on it-” 

“What do you mean it’s not important! Hordak, it’s your culture! You’re affected by this!” Bow took a step forward, “That music did something to you, and since none of the rest of us heard it then it was either intended specifically for you, or for someone like you - a Chilacian. Of course it’s important!”

“It’s not important for the current task.” Hordak said, “It-” 

“It’s important to you, and that’s enough, Hordak.” Bow sighed and turned away, “Geeze, you don’t get that, do you?” 

“Get what?” 

“He really doesn’t.” Entrapta said. 

Bow sighed, and Hordak could see his brow twitching. “What?” He asked, very confused. 

Bow took another step towards Hordak, “You know.” He said as he bent forward, his hands on his hips, “something can be important to you, and that’s enough. It doesn’t have to be vital to some larger plan.” 

“... but we’re in the middle of a -” 

“That’s fine! But it’s not like we haven’t been in the middle of things this entire time! We can take time to deal with stuff we need to deal with.” He stood back upright, “Is this important to you?”

Was it? Years had been spent trying to figure out how he had gotten here, how a singularity had ripped a hole in the fabric of the universe and sent him into despondos, and how he had gotten separated from the rest of the universe so quickly. Nothing had made sense. But now, he had a new part to the problem. A mysterious melody from nowhere. Apparently, a magical melody from nowhere. He could shrug it off as magic being magic, and leave it at that, couldn’t he?

No. Where did the melody come from?

“Yes?” 

“Then it’s important.” Bow said, “You get me all you can, I’ll send it off.” 

Hordak frowned as he considered this. He didn’t necessarily know if he wanted to let anyone read what he had translated. A lot of the interpretation was his own feelings on it, and that made the translation a bit...personal. “Are they trustworthy?” He finally asked, “Would they turn on us?” 

Bow laughed, “Don’t worry.” He said, “I’d trust them with my life.” 

Hordak looked back at the files on the computer, and a moment later he opened up the files, connected his Data Pad, and sent the files to Bow. 

“There.” He said quickly, hoping that he wouldn’t start regretting sending him that, “Give them that for now. I can get more ready.” 

“Right.. And uh…” He glanced at the smoothie in Hordak’s hand, “Are you guys coming for games?”

Hordak raised a brow, “games?” 

“Well… yeah. We always spend some time playing games or something after dinner, right? We missed it last night because we were so tired, and the night before was the party so of course we didn’t have game night then.” 

“The party is over, and Double Trouble fulfilled their role perfectly.” Hordak said, “I doubt they require further observation-” 

“Oh… well…” Bow’s face fell, a sudden look of disappointment crossing his features, “I mean… if you don’t want to-” 

“Are they waiting for us?” Entrapta asked as she put down her things, “I mean, if they want us there, we’ll go. Right Hordak?” 

“It’s fine!” Bow said quickly, “If Hordak doesn't want to go. I mean, I can tell the others. We’ll probably just head off for the night-” 

“Others?” Hordak asked. 

“Well, yeah.” Bow said with a shrug, “I mean, we expected you for supper, and then we hoped that you’d show up for games. I kinda figured you guys just lost tract of time-”

“We kinda did.” Entrapta admitted. 

“But yeah, if you don’t want to join us, that’s fine.” Bow gave a wide smile to hide his disappointment, “I’ll tell the others. We’ll-” 

“Wait.” Hordak said with. Bow stopped and turned to face him. 

Hordak felt his ears flick and burn at the stupid, juvinile quedstion he was about to ask, “Are… are they really just waiting? Do they really want us there?” 

“Of course!” Bow insisted, “Frosta refused to even choose a game until you guys showed up! And I think Adora was looking forward to it. You know, to take her mind off things.” He shrugged, “It wouldn’t be the same if you weren’t here, you know?” 

Hordak shook his head, but the slightest of grins made his lips twitch. “Very well.” He said. He turned to Entrapta, “Shall we go to game night?” 

Entrapta squealed, wrapped her hair around Hordak’s waist, and pulled him to the door. Apparently, Entrapta enjoyed game night too. 

And honestly, Hordak would be lying if he said it hadn’t become something he looked forward to. 

  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
